A person fishing in the bay, at the end of October, 1840, when about a quarter of a mile from the shore, saw a redshank pursued by a hawk (merlin ?) dash into the water, so as almost to conceal itself beneath the surface. The hawk then rose into the the air and soared,
"And the merlin hung in the middle air
With his little wings outspread,
As if let down from the heavens there
By a viewless silken thread;"*
while the redshank sought to make its escape ; but so often as this was done, it was " put down" in a similar manner. Thus the two birds went out of sight, leaving the result of the chase un- known. The cry of the redshank is described to have been most piteous.
A gentleman residing at Moyallen (county of Down), who has merlins trained for the chase, frequently flies them at tame pigeons, which they kill well. Mr. W. Sinclaire has remarked to me, that when living prey was given to his merlins, they instantaneously extinguished life, whether or not they at the same time began feed- ing ; while, under similar circumstances, the peregrine falcon has retained a bird in his grasp for some time, putting an end to its existence only when urged by hunger, though, like the merlin, when it did commence, the most vital part was invariably the first "entered upon." His sparrow-hawks, it need hardly be added, began feeding indiscriminately on any part of the living objects offered them.
The remains of food contained in four out of five merlins examin- ed by me, were, in each, one small bird ; in the fifth, were three skylarks.
The merlin breeds in the mountain-heaths at Aberarder, Inver- ness-shire, and has been observed in the low grounds there by the middle of August. To the 1st of October, — the time of my own departure in 1842, — I observed the species there; and about Me- garnie Castle, in Perthshire, I have seen it on the 22nd of that month. One of these birds, brought to Mr. E. Langtry at the
Hogg.
