A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1367 entries
merlin
The merlin is a small compact falcon of open country, moor, and coast that hunts small birds in level pursuit rather than by stooping from height. It flies fast and low, using every fold in the ground for cover, and takes prey by simply outflying it. Males are blue-gray above and females brown, and both are noticeably heavier-built than a kestrel.
Etymology
The name came into English from Old French, from a word for a small hawk, and behind that is a Germanic word. It has nothing to do with the wizard, whose name is a separate matter entirely, coming from a Welsh personal name that a twelfth-century writer Latinized. The two words met in English by accident and have been confusing readers ever since.
Notes
The merlin was the falconer’s bird for a lady in the medieval hierarchy of hawks, flown at larks. It nests on the ground in heather or in old crow nests in scattered trees, and in winter it moves to coasts and estuaries where the small birds are.