FALCONID.Ii. 



353 



THE RED-FOOTED FALCON. 



Falco vespertinus, Linnaeus. 



This small species (sometimes misnamed the Orange-legged 

 Hobby, though it is more nearly akin to the Kestrel) is merely a 

 summer-visitor to Europe, in the eastern portions of which it has 

 an extensive northerly range, though in the west its appearance is 

 irregular. Its appearance in the British Islands was first noticed in 

 Yorkshire in April and in Norfolk in May of 1830, and subsequently 

 about thirty specimens have been obtained. Most of these have 

 been taken in the eastern and southern counties, but examples have 

 been recorded from Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, Denbighshire, Salop 

 and Lancashire ; while Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland have 

 been visited. In Scotland, one was shot in Aberdeenshire in May 

 1866, and another in May 1897, one in Fifeshire in September 1880, 

 and one near Jedburgh in June 1888. In Ireland, a bird now in the 

 Dublin Museum, was taken in co. Wicklow during the summer of 

 1832. Most of the authenticated occurrences have been in spring 

 or summer, with a few in autumn, and exceptional instances in the 

 winter months. 



The Red-footed Falcon seldom visits Heligoland. It has been 



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