FALCO -^SALON, 
MERLIN. 
Generic Character. See Falco Chryfaetos, 
Falco iEsALON. Lath, Ind, Orn, i. p. 49. 119. 
Merlin. Br. Zool. 1.63. lb. fol. tab. A. 12. Laih. 
JL H I S, the fmalleft fpecies of Britifli hawk, is in length 
about ten inches, and weighs about fix ounces ; the female 
rather exceeds twelve inches in length, and weighs about nine 
ounces. Bill much hooked ; irides yellow ; the two firft quili 
feathers have the appearance of being cut on the inner web ; 
wings when clofed not fo long as the tail by about one inch 
and a half. 
In colour the female differs but little from the male, but is 
readily diftinguifhed by its fuperior fize. BufFon fays this is 
the only fpecies where the male and female are of the fame 
fize \ but that this is an error, we were convinced on dilTecSl- 
ing a pair fhot in Odlober 1810, in the neighbourhood of 
Cambridge, and from which the above defcriptions were 
taken ; both fexes vary in the number of bars on the tail, but 
the tip is invariably white. 
Synonyms. 
The 
