R A P TO R ES. FALCON1DÆ.
T H E M ER L IN .
Falco ai salon, The Merlin, P enn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p, 251.
, , ,, M ont. Ornith. Diet. B ewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 48.
,, F lem. Brit. An, p. 50.
,, S elby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 51.
,, J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 83.
», G ould, Birds of Europe, pt. vi.
Le Faucon Emérillon, T emm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 27.
T h e M e r l i n is one of the smallest of the British Fal-
conidw, and being of rapid flight and great courage, possesses,
on a diminished scale, all the attributes and characters of a
true Falcon. So bold as well as powerful, in proportion to
his size, is this little bird, that a male Merlin, not weighing
more than six ounces, has been seen to strike and kill a
Partridge that was certainly more than twice his own weight;
and so tenacious generally is he of his prey, that it is very
difficult to make him quit anything he has taken. The more
common food of this species is small birds.
The Merlin was formerly, and is now occasionally, trained ;
and Sir John Sebright, in the pamphlet already quoted, says,
“ He will take Blackbirds and Thrushes. He may be made
to wait on, that is, hover near, till the bird to be pursued is
started again ; and though a Merlin will sometimes kill a Partridge,
they are not strong enough to be effective in the field.”
The Merlin was formerly considered to be only a winter
visitor in this country ; but it is now very well ascertained
that this species breeds on the moors of some
northern counties. Mr. Selby has found the nest several
times in Northumberland ; and Dr. Heysham mentions three
instances that came to his knowledge of Merlins1 nests in
Cumberland, where, he says, this bird remains all the year.
Mr. Eyton tells me that it breeds on Cader Idris ; and Mr.
Dovaston sent a notice to his friend Mr. Bewick,- “ on the
authority of the gamekeeper at W^ynstay Park, North Wales,
that he had often seen the nest of the Merlin, and that it
built and bred there in the summer of 1826.” In the more
southern counties of Cornwall and Devonshire, the Merlin
is considered to be rare, and only seen in winter. On our
eastern coast it is killed, but not very often, in Kent, Essex,
and Norfolk. The specimens obtained are generally young
birds ; and these occur most frequently in autumn, or at the
beginning of winter. In Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson,
the Merlin is indigenous in several northern counties.
I t breeds also in Scotland, in Orkney, and in Shetland ; and
is included by Muller and M. Nilsson among the birds of