THE MERLIN, (Falco æsalon,)
Is the smallest British species of the Falcon tribe, and, as its name implies, is not very different in size from the blackbird; the word Merlin signifying in French a small merle, or blackbird. Though small the Merlin is not inferior in courage to any of the other Hawks; it is noted for its boldness and spirit, often attacking and killing at one stroke a full-grown partridge or a quail; but it differs from the Falcons and all the other rapacious kinds, in the male and female being of equal size. The back of this bird is party-coloured, of dark blue and brown; the quill feathers of the wings black, with rusty spots; the tail is about five inches long, of a dark brown or blackish colour, with transverse white bars: the breast is of a yellowish white, with streaks of rusty brown pointing downwards; the legs are long, slender, and yellow; the talons black. The head is encircled with a row of yellowish feathers, not unlike a coronet. In the male the feathers on the rump, next the tail, are bluer; a mark by which the falconers easily discern the sex of the bird. The Merlin does not breed here, but visits us in October: it flies low, and with great celerity and ease. In the days of falconry, the Merlin was considered the lady’s hawk.
In ancient days—in ancient days,
When ladies took a strange delight
In hawks and hounds and sporting ways,
A Merlin was a pleasant sight.
“ ’T was gentle when, in trappings gay,
Upon its lady’s wrist it stood;
Till its hood was raised and it saw its prey,
When its eye betrayed the bird of blood.”
