68 FA-LCONID.E. 



and to occur chiefly in winter. Dr. A. E. Brelim obtained 

 it on the Blue Nile. Nothing seems to be known of it 

 further south until we aj^proach the extremity of the con- 

 tinent; but, though rare, it occurs in the Cape Colony, 

 where it encounters another ally, the Falco ciwieri, which 

 last seems to range along the western coast northward. 

 F. subhuteo again appears in the Canaries, where, according 

 to Dr. Carl Bolle, it is rare, though found in all the islands. 

 Mr. Drake saw it at Cape Negro, in Morocco, and the 

 Zoological Society formerly possessed specimens from Tan- 

 giers. In Algeria it is said, by Loche, to breed, but Canon 

 Tristram and Mr. Salvin, the former of whom found it 

 migratory in the desert and halting in the dayats, as if on 

 its southward passage, are silent on that point. 



The food of this species appears to consist less of birds 

 than of coleopterous insects. The stomachs of two specimens 

 examined by Mr. Henry Doubleday were filled with the 

 common dung-chaffer, Geotnipes stercorarius. 



Specimens of the Hobby measure from twelve to fourteen 

 inches, depending on the sex. The male from which the 

 figure was taken had the beak bluish horn-colour, darkest at 

 the tip ; the cere greenish-yellow, the irides dark brown ; 

 the top of the head, nape, back and upper wing-coverts, 

 greyish-black ; the edges of the feathers buffy- white ; the 

 primaries and secondaries nearly black, edged with dull 

 white ; the two middle tail-feathers uniform greyish-black, 

 the others slightly barred with a lighter colour, the tips 

 also lighter. The chin and side of the neck white ; the 

 cheek and moustache black ; the breast and belly yellowish- 

 white, with longitudinal patches of brownish-black ; thighs, 

 vent and under tail-coverts rust-red ; under surface of the 

 tail-feathers barred with dull white and greyish-black ; the 

 legs and toes yellow ; the claws black. 



Old birds have the upper surface of the body bluish-grey ; 

 in young birds the plumage is tinged with rufous. 



