[11.] 5. F alco iESALQN. (Temminck.). The Merlin.
G e n u s . Falco. L in n . Auctobum.
Dubious Falcon. P e n n . Arct. Zool., ii., p. 213, No. 112 ?
Falco session. T em m ., i., p. 27- Se l b y . Brit. O r n i., p. 45, pi. 18.
P late xxv. F em a le.
This bird is known to the native inhabitants of the fur-countries by the same
name with the two preceding ones; and we suspect that its similarity, in certain
states of plumage, to the Pigeon-Hawk, has caused them to be confounded even
by systematic writers. Hence we have been unable to quote with confidence any
figures or descriptions of American specimens; and the same cause renders it
difficult to ascertain the extent of its migrations on that continent. A single pair
were seen in the neighbourhood of Carlton House, in May, 1827, and the female
was shot. In the oviduct there were several full-sized white eggs, clouded at one
end with a few bronze-coloured spots. Another specimen, probably also a female,
was killed at the Sault St. Marie, between Lakes Huron and Superior, but it could
not be preserved. It is a larger bird, and has longer toes, than the Falco spar-
verTiuhse. —spRec.imen killed at Carlton House is, beyond doubt, an old female Merlin,
just beginning to have its new feathers, several of which, darker and more cinereous,
are to be seen on the sides near the hind part of the neck. Sw.
DESCRIPTION
Of an old female, killed on the plains of the Saskatchewan, 14th May, 1827, while flying in company with the male.
C olour of the dorsal aspect dull, dusky yellowish-brown, varied by spots and short transverse
bars of dull wood-brown. On the crown of the head the feathers have a central streak
of blackish-brown, gradually fading into liver-brown towards the margins, which are rust-
coloured, but are much worn off. On the upper part of the neck the plumage is lighter, and
the white bases of the feathers appear. On the back, and on the wing and tail coverts, the
wood-brown forms one or two pairs of roundish, ill-defined spots on each feather: on the
scapularies it exists in the form of transverse bars, interrupted at the shafts. The quill feathers
have from five to seven pairs of wood-brown spots, those on the outer webs being small, irregular,
and situated close to the shafts. The ground colour of the tail is paler and duller than
that of the back, except at its end, where it approaches to liver-brown. It is narrowly tipped