The Merlin (Bird)

MERLIN

#Enc. 1 (stag or brace), AL N, MV 6"/36", AC 2, HD 1, #AT 1 (talons), dam 1d4, ML 9, TREASURE nil, XP 100

Birds of prey sympathetic to being trained with falconer's commands. Merlins have a wingspan of not more than three feet. Females of the species are slightly larger and less-colorful than the males, but both hunt. There are between three and nine subspecies and their taxonomy is unclear, however they are visibly related to the larger falcons. All kinds are diurnal and will hunt for their own prey. A well-trained merlin will fly up to 36 miles away in a day to deliver a note or for other reasons, and then return within a day and a night to his master's arm.

A merlin is black, grey, brown, russet, or blue on its back feathers and the tip of its beak, and carries a herringbone or seersucker black-and-white underbelly. Its tail is stripèd crosswise black in three or more bands.  Like other birds of prey, they have eye sight four times that of a man's. Likewise their hearing is keener than a hound's, both in tonal extremity and in acuity.

They are well-suited to striking and killing other birds on the wing. As prey, they will kill any bird up to half their size, but they can be trained to strike birds larger than they.

Each type of bird mates for at least one breeding season and usually more. Females are fertile more or less throughout their lifespans. None live longer than about 13 breeding seasons.

Blueback Merlin (male.)