MEICLIN, Falco asalon or Hypottiorchis asalon, the stnallest of the British faleonidcs, scarcely exceeding a blackbird in size, but very bold and powerful, and possessing all the characters of the true falcons, with the distinction of large hexagonal scales on the front of the tarsi. It is of a bluish ash color above; reddish yellow on the breast and belly, with longitudinal dark spots, the throat of the adult male white. The wings reach to two-thirds of the length of the tail. It builds its nest on the ground, and is fond of localities where large stones are plentiful, on which it is often to be seen perched, and is therefore often called the stone falcon. It is common in most parts of Europe, is found in Asia and North America, and extends southwards in Africa, even to the cape of -Good Hope. It was of great repute in the days of falconry, being very easily trained, _and flying readilv at its quarry. It was therefore often used for taking partridges and wood-pigeons. It is a very lively bird, aud often utters a harsh scream. It usually flies low and very rapidly, threading its way, if necessary, through branches and leaves, but it will also follow its prey in mckunting upwards to a great height.
IdEBLIN, the name of an ancient Welsh prophet and enchanter, who is believed to have flourished during the decline of the native British power in its contest with the :Saxon invaders. Both the Cambrian and the Strathclyde Britons boasted of a Merlin who was, in all probability, the same personage decked out in different legendary guise.—The 'Cambrian Merlin called Merlin Emyrs or Andirosius, is said by Geoffr y of Monmouth, in his Historia Brittonum, to have lived in the 5th c., to have spnmg from the intercourse of
a demon with a Welsh princess, and to have displayed the possession of miraculous powers from infancy. He is alleged to have been the adviser of King Vortigern, and subse -quently of Ambrosius, Uterpendragon, and the great King Arthur. He is often alluded to by our older poets, especially Spenser, in his Fairy OWN, and also figures in Tennyson's Idylls of the King. He has been made the subject of a metrical romance, of which there 'is a manuscript copy in the advocates' library in Edinburgh. (For an -analysis of this romance, see Ellis's Specimens of Early English altetrical R,omances.) A collection of prophecies attributed to him appeared in French (Paris, 1498), in English