ACG1PITRES. FALCON IDA.
F alco jEsalon, Gmelin#.
THE MERLIN.
Valeo cesalon.
T h e M e k l in , in some parts of tlie country known as the
“ Stone-Falcon,” is one of the smallest of the British Falco-
nldce, and being of rapid flight and great courage, possesses, on
a diminished scale, all the attributes and characters of a true
Falcon. So hold 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
* Syst. Nat. i. p. 284 (1788).
common food of species is small birds, and they have been
seen in chase of the smaller shore-birds, as the Sanderling
and Dunlin.
The Merlin was formerly often, and is now occasionally,
trained; and will take Snipes, Larks, Blackbirds
and Thrushes. Messrs. Salvin and Brodrick say: “ The
strongest female Merlins may be trained to fly pigeons
admirably, and from their small size, and the way in which
they follow every turn and shift of the quarry, are better
adapted for this chase than the Peregrine; unlike it, they
do not stop when the pigeon takes cover in a hedge or tree,
but dash in and generally secure it.”
The Merlin was formerly considered to be only a winter-
visitor to this country, and in the southern parts of England
that is without doubt its character, though instances
are recorded of its also remaining to breed. Mr. Murray
Mathew informed Mr. More that it has been seen on Exemoor,
in June, and its nest is said to have been found more than once
in the New Forest. On Dr. Bree’s authority it is stated to
breed in Essex, and Herefordshire and Shropshire are counties
in which it occasionally does so. In Wales, too, it has its
nest, but only regularly in the north. On the Derbyshire
moors it breeds annually, as also in every county of Great
Britain, from Yorkshire northward to the Shetlands. In
Ireland, it frequents chiefly the mountainous districts
throughout the island, descending in winter to the lower
parts of the country.
This species is confined to the more northern portion of the
Old World, its place in America being taken by the kindred
Falco columbarius, which, among other differences, is said to
be recognizable by the fewer bars on its tail. The Norwich
Museum contains a specimen of the Merlin, caught at sea in
May, 1867, by Mr. Edward Whymper, on his voyage to
Greenland, in lat. 57° 41/ N., and long. 35° 23' W., and
this appears to be the most western limit ever reached by
the species. In Iceland it is very common in summer,
arriving at the end of March and leaving in October; in the
Faeroes it remains all the year. I t breeds in suitable localities