even seize a rising bird in front of the gun. When birds fail, the Hobby has recourse to insects, reptiles,
sing Q

and field-mice. M. Bailly adds that young Hobbies are gentle and easily tamed, but that, with all his care
and attention, he could not obtain the same result with the old. :

“We believe,” says Latham, “this to be the most rapid in its flight of all the Hawks: Larks will not trust
to their wings when the Hobby is in sight ; and we remember to have seen a Swallow pursued and overtaken
while on the wing by this bird. This species was formerly used in falconry, but not known to attempt a
larger bird than a eee ee it is a great enemy to Larks, and is frequently taken in pursuit of them by the
Nini -aatahhens in their nets ; hence it is successfully used in the luring of Larks, for which purpose the Hawk
is cast off, on seeing which the Larks keep to the ground through fear, and the fowler draws his net over
them.”

‘Unlike the Peregrine,” says A. E. Knox, Esq., the Hobby “ prefers the wooded district of the Weald of
Sussex to the orneiae the open country near the coast, being there a summer visitor. Yet even in these
its favourite haunts he must be considered scarce ; for you will rarely discover his decaying form among the
rows of defunct Hawks which garnish the gable end of the keeper’s cottage—a sort of ornithological register
which indicates, with tolerable accuracy, the prevalence or scarcity of any species of raptorial bird in its
irhood.

JOU

immediate neigh

“The courage and address of this Hawk are remarkable. When shooting with a friend, a few years ago,

.
during the early part of September, we observed a Hobby pursuing a Partridge, which, having been
wounded, was then in the act of ‘ towering.’ The little fellow proved himself a true Falcon by the quickness
with which he rose above his quarry in rapid circles, ‘climbing to the mountee,’ as our ancestors termed
this manoeuvre, with all the ease of a Peregrine. Unfortunately, at this juncture the Partridge became
suddenly lifeless, as is the case with all towering birds, and fell to the ground; while the Hobby, apparently
disdaining to accept a victim which he had not obtained by his own exertions, scudded away after a fresh
covey.”

The usual disparity in the size of the sexes seen in other Falcons also occurs with the Hobby, the female
being considerably larger than the male. Both are alike in colour when adult ; but the young of the first
autumn are different, having the feathers of the upper surface margined with yellowish buff, and the general
ground-colour darker than that of their parents.

The Plate represents an adult male, of the size of life, with a Dragonfly (4shna grandis) in its claws.