Book II. O^^CIT H(0 LO qY. 8? 



They build in hollow Oaks and other trees 5 and that not after the manner ofNeftaadGe- 

 Crows, upon the boughs, but after the manner o£ Jackdaws, always in holes, as%*- neracion - 

 wr faith he himfelf obferved. Arjfiotk makes the Kefirel the moft fruitful or beft 

 breeder among Birds of prey ^ yet nerfher doth fne ( faith he ) lay nribre Eggs than 

 four at once. Her Eggs are whitilh, all over ftained very thick with red fpots, whence 

 Arifiotle and Pliny write, that they are reddike Vermilion : Indeed, they deferve ra- 

 ther to be called red than w hite. . • 



It is called K.ey%& s from Ke^eP'j fignifying Millet, as if one (houldfay the Millet- The Names, 

 bird, for the fame reafon as Gejner thinks, that a kind of Tetter [ the Swine-pox ] ^£_ 

 is called Herpes miliaris, because it is marked or motled with fpecks like Millet f 

 feed. 



This Bird is by fome called the Wind-hover, of which name we have elfe&here gi- 

 ven an account. 



4. XVI. 



The, Merlin, called in Latine JEfolon. 



I EUenius hath recorded that the Merlin is the leaft of^all thofe birds our Falconers its Bignefs, 

 \ ufe for hawking 5 and trujy, if we except only the Matagejfe or great Butcher- 

 bird C which is fometifnes reclaimed for fmall birds ) fo it is. It is not much bigger than 

 a Blackbird. The length' from the f^p of the Bill to the end of the Tail in that we Length and 

 defcribed was fourteen Inches, to the end of the Toes twelve and an half The Breadch ° 

 Beak was blue, and had an .angular Appendix or tooth on each fide : The hides of the ^ ak - 

 Eyes of a hazel colour : The back and upper 'part were particoloured of a dark blue xhecoiour of 

 and a femigineous : The (haft and middle pirtof the feathers of.the Head and Wings the upper 

 were black, the edges blue : The flag-feathers of the Wings black with ferrugineous par wi a n g d * j 

 fpots. The Train live inches long, of a dark brown or blackifti, with tranfverfe The Train. 

 * white bars : Of thefe black and white fpaces were fourteen in all in the Female $ * Pale-red or 

 in the Male or Tarcel but ten. The Breaft and Belly were of a rufty white, with coLToT^ * 

 brown fpots, not tranfverfe, but tending downwards from the Head toward the Tail, lower fide. 

 The Legs were long, flender, and yellow: The Talons black. Below the Hea'd it The Legs and 

 had a ring of yello wifti white, ellcircling the Head like a Coronet. In the older Birds ° DS ' 

 the back grows bluer as in other Falcons. ■':».« 



In theMales the feathers on the Rump next the Tail are bluer. By which note and How the MaIc 

 their bignefs Falconers d.ifcern the Sex. For the Female in this, as in other birds of dirSfrL 

 prey, is greater than the Male, being for colour lefs red, witha certain mixture of the Female, 

 blue. Inthe Train of the Male we defcribed were only five croft pale-red bars (as we 

 laid before ) the intermediate black fpaces being broader.. The Train was five Inches 

 long, the whole bird' thirteen. 



The Merlin, though the leaft of Hawks, yet for ipirit and mettle ( as Albertus The Mer l.'« a 

 truly writes) gives place to none. It ftrikes Partridge on the Neck, with a fatal mettIed blf d " 

 ftroke, killing them in an inftant. No Hawk kills her prey fo foon. They fly alfo 

 Heath-pouts with it. ^ 



Chap. X. 

 Of fbort'Winged HcCfrks. 



*• I- 



7?" 

 The Qofiawli, Accipiter Palumb-mus. " 



IT is bigger than the common Buzzard: Of a dark brown or Buzzar d colour on its Bignefs, 

 the head, neck, back, and upper fide of the Wings. The whole Breaft and Bel- 

 ly white with t&nfverfe black lines (landing very thick. The Thighs are covered CoIour ° 

 over with reddifh feathers, having a black line in the middle down the fhaft. The 

 Legs and Feet are yellow 3 the Talons black. The Beak blue, and the Sear of a yel- ^L^ and 

 lowifh green. Beak/ 



The Wings, when clofed, fall much ftiortof the end of tie Train, by which note The wings, 

 aloneand its bignefs it isfufficientfy diitinguifhed from all other Hawks. The Train is Trai « 

 ^ long, 



