Network Security Through Data Analysis

Colophon

The animal on the cover of Network Security Through Data Analysis is a European Merlin (Falco columbarius). There is some debate as to whether the North American and the European/Asian varieties of Merlin are actually different species. Carl Linnaeus was the first to classify the bird in 1758 using a specimen from America, then in 1771 the ornithologist Marmaduke Tunstall assigned a separate taxon to the Eurasian Merlin, calling it Falco aesalon in his book Ornithologica Britannica.

Recently, it has been found that there are significant genetic variations between North American and European types of Merlin, supporting the idea that they should be officially classified as distinct species. It is believed that the separation between the two kinds happened more than a million years ago, and since then the birds have existed completely independently of each other.

The Merlin is more heavily built than most other small falcons and can weigh almost a pound, depending on the time of year. Females are generally larger than males, which is common among raptors. This allows the male and female to hunt different types of prey animals and means that less territory is required to support a mating pair. Merlins normally inhabit open country, such as scrubland, forests, parks, grasslands, and moorland. They prefer areas with low and medium-height vegetation because it allows them to hunt easily and find the abandoned nests that they take on as their own. During the winter, European Merlins ...