def _merge_prefix(deque, size):
    """Replace the first entries in a deque of strings with a single
    string of up to size bytes.

    >>> d = collections.deque(['abc', 'de', 'fghi', 'j'])
    >>> _merge_prefix(d, 5); print(d)
    deque(['abcde', 'fghi', 'j'])

    Strings will be split as necessary to reach the desired size.
    >>> _merge_prefix(d, 7); print(d)
    deque(['abcdefg', 'hi', 'j'])

    >>> _merge_prefix(d, 3); print(d)
    deque(['abc', 'defg', 'hi', 'j'])

    >>> _merge_prefix(d, 100); print(d)
    deque(['abcdefghij'])
    """
    if len(deque) == 1 and len(deque[0]) <= size:
        return
    prefix = []
    remaining = size
    while deque and remaining > 0:
        chunk = deque.popleft()
        if len(chunk) > remaining:
            deque.appendleft(chunk[remaining:])
            chunk = chunk[:remaining]
        prefix.append(chunk)
        remaining -= len(chunk)
    if prefix:
        deque.appendleft(type(prefix[0])().join(prefix))
    if not deque:
        deque.appendleft(b'')
