95 
Falcon shot in this country (and preserved 
in the collection of Mr. Foljambe, and by 
him communicated to Mr. Montagu) with 
our figure of the male Merlin, that almost 
the only distinction to be found between 
them is in the colour of their irides, (those of 
the Merlin being of a dark hazel, approach- 
ing: to black, and those of the Stone Falcon 
being of a bright yellow); a character 
which, as experience has taught us^ is not 
wholly to be depended upon. The varia- 
tions observed in the Moor Buzzard, as well 
as some other species, in that particular, 
justify us in agreeing with Mr. M. that the 
colour of the eyes in the Merlin may also 
occasionally vary, and that the Stone Falcon 
is only a variety of that bird. 
Upon referring to Buffon, we find the 
following passage, which agrees with this 
opinion: " This small bird," he says, " which 
resembles the common Falcon so much in 
its disposition and courage, is however shaped 
more like the Hobby, and still more like the 
Stone Falcon; but its wings are much 
shorter than those of the Hobby, and reach 
not near the end of the tail ; while in the 
