The Merlin or Stone-hawk (_Falco æsalon_) is the smallest bird of our British Falcons. It breeds regularly on our moorlands, not in such numbers in the South as beyond Derbyshire. In many parts of Wales too it nests. It is fairly common too in the mountainous parts of Ireland. In the autumn the dashing little fellow comes down to the coast and bays where he can prey on Dunlins, Snipe and other waders. He has high courage and will kill birds you would not think him capable of mastering. The Merlin will kill the Skylark if pinched by hunger, but both he and the Hobby prefer birds of the Finch family. [Illustration: HARMFUL. THE MARSH-HARRIER.] THE MARSH-HARRIER. (_Circus œruginosus._) (Formerly known as the Moor-Buzzard.) The Marsh-Harrier is one of the shyest and most cunning of our birds of prey. It immediately attracts attention by its size and its constant activity; but it requires a good sportsman to get a shot at it. It is most easily got at when feasting among the high grass at the edge of the reedy marsh; it then forgets to be prudent and sometimes takes flight only too late. Early and late it hovers over the borders of the marshes and reed-beds, sweeping, circling without rest, now and then making a swift descent into the rushes and the sedges and securing its prey. There is no small creature of the marsh, the bog, the heath, or the moor that this bird will not take; it works special destruction among the singing birds which nest among the reeds and sedges. It does not wait for the young birds to be hatched, but is very clever in breaking open the eggs and devouring the contents, always bringing them on to dry land for the purpose. The birds of the reed-land know this raider well, and as soon as the first flap of his wing is heard the terrified Lapwings, Gulls, Terns, and others, arise with loud cries and attack him tooth and nail. When brooding it lives almost exclusively by egg stealing; later on the moor hens afford provender for this insatiable thief. It leaves Hungary for the winter, but returns in early spring. Its cry varies. In spring it is “_kei, kei_,” in autumn it is like that of the Jay. The female utters a loud “_pitz! pitz_.” This bird is common in the Hungarian marshes.