Birds of Prey. 



I 2- 



and Magpies, but the 

 cunning way in which 

 these latter birds manage 

 to avoid the swoop of the 

 Falcons, often leads to 

 their ultimate escape. 



The Peregrine 

 generally lays its eggs 

 on the bare rock, or 

 under a shelving ledge, 

 but it occasionally adopts 

 the old nest of some 

 other bird on a tree ; the 

 eggs are from two to four 

 in number, they are 

 generally very hand- 

 so m el 3' clouded and 

 blotched with shades of 

 rufous and chestnut, and 

 measure about two inches 

 in length. 





■ -■ - '.. J i v 



The Peregrine Falcon. The Greenl.\nd Gvr-Falcon. 

 The Red-footed Kestrel. 



THE HOBBY. 



[Falco snbbutfo.) 



The Hobby. 



This is a much smaller 

 species than the Peregrine, 

 and is easily recognised 

 from that species by its rufous thighs and dis- 

 tinctly streaked throat and breast. It is a sum- 

 mer visitor to Europe, and breeds from Northern 

 and Central Europe throughout Northern Asia 

 to Kamtchatka, wintering in China, India and 

 Africa. It still nests in small numbers in Eng- 

 land every summer, and has been known to do 

 so also in the south of Scotland, but most of 

 the captures are those of birds on migration. 



The food of the Hobby consists chiefly of 

 insects, such as dragon-flies which it catches 

 and devours on the wing, and it also feeds on 

 small birds, such as Larks and Sandpipers. It 

 generall)' appropriates the deserted nest of a 

 Crow, which it sometimes repairs and re-lines. 



