216 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
MaxweU of AUanton Mill told him that the Merlin was not 
infrequent in the district. 
This species, from the reports I have received, appears to 
have nested in nearly every parish where there is suitable 
moorland ground. But it is not likely that the Mer m 
could be expected to flourish when the following are samples 
of these reports: "Pair nested on Bogrie Moor (Glen- 
cairn), 1888 ; female trapped, male shot."* " I have not 
seen any here [Kirkmahoe] for years. There used to be 
a pair annually, but I think I kiUed them all out. f Happi y, 
however, there are still a few spots where the Merlm 
is allowed to breed unmolested ; and perhaps nowhere in 
Dumfriesshire is it more common than on the borders of 
Roxburghshire, and in Upper Nithsdale where I know of 
one nesting-site which has been annually tenanted tor 
upwards of thirty years. In autumn and winter this species 
becomes more widely distributed, and numerous stuffed 
specimens bear witness to the indiscriminate slaughter 
to which it is stiU subjected. Protected by the 
Wild Birds Protection Acts, with mile upon mile ot ideal 
country for its habitat and with also almost a super- 
abundance of small birds on which to prey, the Merlm 
would if aUowed. soon become once more a common resident 
in our uplands. Like aU other hawks, this species is on 
most estates ruthlessly persecuted by gamekeepers, and 
though Mr J. G. Millais has put it on record that he once 
saw a Merlin dash at a Blackcock and send it sprawlmg into 
some birches below,J the harm this species does on a grouse- 
moor is infinitesimal. Small bu-ds form its usual prey, 
and cockchafers and other winged insects are taken m 
summer. , . ^, j . 
The nest is, as a rule, a mere hollow scraped in the ground , 
but an old nest, such as that of a crow, built m a tree, is 
occasionaUy utilized. Mr. T. MoCluskie informs me that he 
* Trans. D. and O. Nat. Hist. Soc, November 10th, 1888. 
t D. Tait, in litt., April 28th, 1908. 
t Qame Birds, 1894, p. 85. 
