In Syria there is a species of Falcon, which the inhabitants call Shaheen (_Falco peregrinator_), and which is of so fierce and courageous a disposition, that it will attack any bird, however large or powerful, which presents itself. “Were there not,” says Dr. Russel, in his Account of Aleppo, “several gentlemen now in England to bear witness to the fact, I should hardly venture to assert that, with this bird, which is about the size of a pigeon, the inhabitants sometimes take large eagles. This Hawk was in former times taught to seize the eagle under the pinion, and thus depriving him of the use of one wing, both birds fell to the ground together; but the present mode is to teach the Hawk to fix on the back, between the wings, which has the same effect, only, that as the bird tumbles down more slowly, the falconer has more time to come to his Hawk’s assistance; but in either case, if he be not very expeditious, the falcon is inevitably destroyed. I never saw the Shaheen fly at eagles, that sport having been disused before my time; but I have often seen him take herons and storks. The Hawk, when thrown off, flies for some time in a horizontal line, not six feet from the ground; then mounting perpendicularly, with astonishing swiftness, he seizes his prey under the wing, and both together come tumbling to the ground.” [Illustration] [Illustration: 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.