In Italian the crenellated medieval towers and palaces are said to have merli (blackbirds) of different kind depending on the political inclination of the town. I never asked myself where the name came from, until last saturday when I saw these towers "merlate" with pigeons! Is that the origin of the name? In any case I found it funny
It's interesting. Birds such as pigeons and gulls like tall buildings (similar to cliffs). There seem to be many folklore tales of such birds around castles etc (like the Tower of London).
