ANGLE SEA BIRD-NOTES. 101 



Barn-Owls were nesting in. a crevice in the ivy-clad cliffs at 

 Porth Wen. 



The Merlin is a common bird in North Anglesea. A pair 

 were nesting near Point Lynas, and we found four nests on the 

 brows above the cliffs between Cemmaes and Bull Bay. One, on 

 an old footpath overhung by the strong growth of ling through 

 which it passed, held five young birds perhaps a fortnight old. 

 This nest — a flattened heap of ling — was much denied by the 

 excreta of its tenants, and the sodden feathers of a Greenfinch, a 

 Song-Thrush, and other small birds ; close to it were the remains 

 of two plucked House-Sparrows. The little Merlins hissed and 

 called — a faint echo of the old birds' whistling scream — when we 

 handled them, snapping and striking at us with their talons. 

 They were covered with grey down, except on the head, where 

 the down was pale buff. The primaries were just bursting their 

 quills ; bill pale lead-colour ; cere yellowish horn ; legs and feet 

 dull pale yellow ; iris dark brown, pupil blue. The old birds 

 were vociferous while we were near the nest, as is their wont 

 even before the eggs are hatched ; behaviour different from that 

 of the Kestrel, which is usually silent under similar circum- 

 stances. We had seen several Kestrel's nests with young during 

 the previous few days, but only once had one of the old birds 

 screamed. The second Merlin's nest was a fairly substantial 

 mass of dead ling concealed in a thick patch of the living plant. 

 The four young birds were not actually on the nest, but on the 

 ground near it ; the place was foul with excreta and feathers, as 

 in the first case. In this brood the primaries and rectrices 

 showed plainly ; all traces of the pale buff which characterizes 

 very young birds had disappeared, and the down on the head was 

 of the same pale grey as on the body. Two of the four had their 

 pink tongues tipped with a large greenish-grey scale, as all in 

 the first brood had ; in the remaining two this scale had appa- 

 rently been shed. The birds, rather older than the first lot, were 

 also fiercer ; they threw themselves on to their backs, and fought 

 savagely with beak and talons, screaming and hissing the while. 

 On the following day (June 21st) we put up a hen Merlin which 

 was brooding on four eggs in a fairly substantial nest of ling and 

 moss at the cliff edge ; she clamoured as long as we were near 

 the nest. Two days later the cries of a pair of Merlins prompted 



