MERLIN. 321 



in falconry, being- esteemed for its courage, though inferior in size. The 

 female will kill a partridge at a single pounce ; but the male is con- 

 tented with humbler game. The wing- of this species is not so long 

 and pointed as that of the hobby ; when closed it does not reach to the 

 end of the tail by an inch and a half. It flies low, and is generally 

 seen skimming- along- the side of a hedge, or over the surface of the 

 ground, in pursuit of small birds. This bird visits the south of Eng- 

 land in October, about the time the hobby retires, but it has never been 

 observed to breed further south than Cumberland, where, Dr. Latham 

 informs us, it has been found more than once with four young- ones, 

 placed on the ground. In the middle of a high clump of heath, upon 

 the moors in Northumberland, we found three young ones, about half 

 grown, but no nest. They were well concealed, and could not have 

 been discovered but by a setting dog making a point at them. The 

 eggs are said to be of a plain chocolate colour, and an instance has been 

 known of the birds depositing them in a deserted crow's nest. 



*Temminck says they inhabit forests and mountains, building their 

 nests in trees or on shelving rocks. Selby says, he has often met with 

 their nests, not in this situation, but in extensive upland moors, placed 

 upon the ground, amongst the heather. 



The female, and immatured male Merlin has been described by various 

 authors under the name of the Stone Falcon, as a distinct species.* One 

 shot at Osberton, and which proved to be a male, is thus described by 

 Mr. Foljambe : — " Length of the bird in question is about twelve inches; 

 bill lead-colour; cere and irides yellow; the feathers on the crown and 

 back of the head, brownish cinereous, with black shafts ; throat cream 

 colour, with very narrow brown streaks ; forehead cream colour, extend- 

 ing in a very narrow line over the eyes ; cheeks, back of the neck, and 

 breast, rufous, with longitudinal spots of brown ; thighs pale rufous, with 

 a few very narrow brown lines pointing downwards ; the back, scapulars, 

 and wing coverts bluish-cinereous, with black shafts to the feathers ; 

 the prime quills have their inner webs marked with six large white 

 spots, the base edged with white ; the outer web of the first feather is 

 scolloped with white ; the second and third feather the longest ; the 

 wings when closed reach within an inch of the end of the tail ; the tail 

 is bluish-cinereous, with four black bars, that at the end an inch in 

 breadth, the others narrower ; the tip white ; the under side of the 

 tail white, barred as above ; the legs and toes yellow and slender." 



Mr. Foljambe is in possession of another of this species which he 

 suspects to be the female, but as it came to him in a dried state, this 

 important object could not be ascertained. It is a trifle larger than the 

 other, and the throat is plain ; the outer web of the first quill is white, 



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