. British birds. Birds. VOL. xm.] NESTING HABITS OF MERLIN. 205 ing all the morning without any luck, or seeing a sign of the birds. Came across a Nightjar {Caprimiilgus e. europcsus) siting on her two eggs on the bare sand, halfway up a sand-hill. Went out again in the even- ing to â ' B " to put up a " hide " near the Nightjar's, and was rewarded with a fine view of the male Merlin mobbing two Ravens. The Merlin, flying quickly, singled out and overhauled one of the Ravens, ana getting above it " stooped " like a flash, only to be met by beak and claws as the latter
. British birds. Birds. VOL. xm.] NESTING HABITS OF MERLIN. 205 ing all the morning without any luck, or seeing a sign of the birds. Came across a Nightjar {Caprimiilgus e. europcsus) siting on her two eggs on the bare sand, halfway up a sand-hill. Went out again in the even- ing to â ' B " to put up a " hide " near the Nightjar's, and was rewarded with a fine view of the male Merlin mobbing two Ravens. The Merlin, flying quickly, singled out and overhauled one of the Ravens, ana getting above it " stooped " like a flash, only to be met by beak and claws as the latter executed an amazingly quick sideways turn over on to its back, barking with rage. Met in this fashion the Merlin dropped below the Raven, which immediately righted itself and made off, only to be easily overtaken again by its game little adversary, who mounting. merlin's nest, eggs and young at " ; June 15th, 1919. (Photographed by G. C. S. Ingram.) above once more, compelled it to turn over to receive the charge again. These tactics went on until the birds dropped out of sight behind a dune. It was a beautiful display on the part of both birds, and the quickness of the Raven in turning over to receive the Merlin, and righting itself again, was wonderful. While erecting the " hide " at the Nightjar's nesting place I heard a Merlin's call, and soon spotted it outlined against the setting sun, on the crest of a long and high sand-hill. As I got my glasses on it, I was just in time to see another bird rise from the other side of the dune, alight for a moment beside its mate, and then drop back out of sight again. This little incident set me thinking. I made a wide detour around the bird which had remained on the dune, until I had the sun on it, and saw that it was the male. Walked towards it, and it flew off. Climbed. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and ap
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherl, booksubjectbirds
