tesalon, Lin. &c. ; F. errsius, Meyer ; F. lithofalco, Gmel. Merlin, or Stone Falcon. Cere and legs yellow ; head ferruginous, body bluish-grey, with ferruginous spots, and streaks above, and yellowish-white, with ob long spots beneath. The mature male weighs nearly five ounces and a half, is twelve inches in length, and about twenty-five inches in extent of wing. The female weighs about nine ounces, and is twelve inches and a half long. Both are subject to vary in their colouring. The wings are not so long and pointed as in the hobby, for, when closed, they do not reach to the end of the tail by an inch and a half.
The merlin is a migratory species, resorting to the north in spring, for the purpose of breeding, and re turning to the south oil the approach of winter. Ac cording to Mr. Pennant it does not breed in England ; but Mr. Latham, on the authority of a highly respecta ble observer, assures us that it has twice produced young in Cumberland, placing its nest on the ground, in the manner of the ring-tail ; and, in Northumberland, Colonel Montagu found three young ones about half grown, in the middle of a high clump of heath, in which they were so well concealed, that they would not have been discovered, but for a setting dog, which made a point at them. The eggs are said to be of a plain chocolate colour, to vary in number from three to six, and to have been found occasionally in a deserted crow's nest. According to Temminek, they are whitish, and mottled at one of the ends with greenish brown. On the Continent the merlin is usually observed to affect hilly, and woody situations, and is supposed to breed in trees, or crevices of rocks. It preys on larks and other small birds. It was often trained for hawk ing, especially for taking partridges, which it will kill by a single pounce on the head or neck. Though of a bold spirit, it flies low, and may be seen along the sides of roads, skimming from hedge to hedge in quest of prey. Partridges and their young are so terrified at its approach, that they have been known to squat down at the fowler's feet.
F. Tinnunculus, Lin. &c.; Provincially, Stone gall, Stannel, Windhover, &c. Crown of the head bluish grey, upper parts ferruginous, sprinkled with black angu lar spots ; under parts white, slightly dashed with reddish, and marked with oblong brown spots ; the tail cinereous, with a broad black band near the white extremity. The
beak is bluish, and the cere, iris, and legs, are yellow. The male measures 14 inches in length, two feet five inches in expanse of wing, and weighs about seven ounces.
The kestril is by far the most elegant of the small Bri tish hawks. Including two or three varieties which do not exactly accord with the preceding description, it may be said to inhabit Europe, Siberia, and the more temperate regions in North America. In Sweden it is migratory, remaining in that country only during summer, appearing with the white wagtail, when the crocus, snow-drop, and violet blossom, and quitting the country in September, nearly about the same day on which the white wagtail takes its departure. It breeds in old towers and ruins, and sometimes in the woods, when it will occasionally content itself with the deserted nest of a rook or magpie. Its own is made of sticks, and lined with wool, or other soft materials. The eggs, which are four or five in num ber, are rather inferior in size to those of the sparrow hawk, and of a dirty white, blotched with rust colour of various shades, and sometimes wholly covered with a deep rusty red. The kestril is a common inhabitant of our own country, especially about our rocky coasts, or in high or ruinous towers, proclaiming its presence by a loud, tingling, and grating noise. In clear weather it is fre quently observed fixed, as it were, in one place, and fan ning the air with its wings, being then intent on Its prey, such as moles, field-mice, frogs, &c. on which it shoots like an arrow. It also preys on birds; and such is the violence with which it directs its horizontal flight, either in flying from some more powerful enemy of its own tribe, or in the ardent pursuit of distant game, that it has been known to break through a pane of glass, and fall stunned into the middle of a room in which were two opposite windows. After it has secured its prey, it plucks the feathers very dexterously from the birds, but swallows the mice entire, and discharges the hair at the bill, in the form of round balls. It has been often trained to the pur suit of the smaller kind of game, and is said to have been excellent in the chase of partridges and quails, and some times even of pheasants. When taken young, and fed on raw meat, it is easily tamed.