ORNITHOLOGICAL OBSERVATION IN ICELAND. 303 



female flew right down upon one of the lower slopes of the 

 mountain, bounding the gorge, and, getting to the tent-door as 

 soon as I could, I saw her there with the male bird, between 

 whom and herself something was evidently taking place, for the 

 one made several swift little darts at the other — the female, I 

 think, at the male — but what with the wind and the flapping 

 tent-sail, I lost them, and found it impossible to pick them up 

 again with the glasses, upon the great surface of the slope, 

 broken and irregular as it was. Both birds had been uttering 

 their little quavering, shrill squeak of a cry (the same, in 

 character, with that both of the Eagle and Sparrow-Hawk), and 

 I still heard it, in a tone of import, though, to my vexation, I 

 could not get them. The male now flew up to one of the points 

 where he had perched before, and, shortly afterwards, I luckily 

 got the glasses on the female, just as she flew from one place on 

 the slope, where she had, I think, been all the time, to another, 

 and here she made a few unmistakable, fierce, downward digs 

 with her beak, to her feet, followed by the action of pulling 

 something up from them, which assured me, in a moment, that 

 she had prey, and was devouring it. It was the same scene, 

 upon the mountain side, as with the Sparrow-Hawks, in Brittany, 

 amidst trees, in the little plantation, nor can there be any doubt, 

 I think, that, as in the case of the latter, the male Merlin had 

 brought in booty for the incubating female. Just as with the 

 Sparrow-Hawks, this was not brought to the nest, but to a place 

 in its neighbourhood (though here much farther off), and in 

 both instances this method may have been brought about owing 

 to the sharp eyes and impatient spirit — or keen appetite rather 

 — of the sitting bird. Never giving her husband time to come to 

 her, it is natural that he should have got into the habit of 

 waiting for her to come to him. Having finished her meal, the 

 female Merlin flew back to the nest, and settled herself again on 

 the eggs. She had been away, perhaps, a quarter of an hour. 

 At 10.15 p.m. she hunches herself up on the eggs, and makes 

 various movements, in which slightly spreading out the wings 

 and bending down the tail are included — the head also is some- 

 times bent down into the nest. Now again, at 11.30, she goes 

 through some quick rocking-horse-like movements not easy 

 otherwise to describe. The object of these actions, or whether 



