I30 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Orange-legged Hobby are from four to 

 six in number. They are rotund in shape, creamy- 

 white in ground colour, washed, spotted, and blotched 

 with orange-brown. As a rule most of the surface 

 markings are confluent, and more or less evenly washed 

 over the entire surface, concealing every trace of ground 

 colour ; but varieties may be seen in which the markings 

 are more broken and disconnected. The eggs of this 

 Falcon cover almost precisely the same range of variation 

 as those of the Common Kestrel. Average measure- 

 ment, i'5 inch in length by r2 inch in breadth. Incu- 

 bation, performed chiefly by the female, lasts about a 

 month. 



Diagnostic characters : I know of no character 

 by which the eggs of the Orange-legged Hobby may be 

 distinguished from those of the Lesser Kestrel. They 

 are generally smaller than those of the Common Kestrel 

 and perceptibly yellower in tint. Goebel also remarks 

 that the grain is finer, and the weight of the empty shell 

 proportionately and absolutely less than that of the eggs 

 of the Common Kestrel. They require, however, the 

 most careful identification. 



