238 Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker on the [Ibis, 



be distiuguislied from the eggs of the Common Hobby. 

 Normally they are very regular ovals, one end but very 

 slightly compressed; some eggs are rather longer than others, 

 and I have one egg rather pegtop-like in shape, but the 

 other three eggs in the same clutch are all of the usual type. 



The average measurements of 34 eggs is 40'1 x31*6 mm. 

 The longest and shortest eggs measure respectively 41*2 mm. 

 and 37*5 mm,, and the broadest and most narrow 33*6 mm. 

 and 29'3 mm. They therefore run decidedly smaller, on the 

 average, than the eggs of Falco subhuteo. 



The Indian Hobby is very crepuscular in its habits, and 

 one seldom sees it hawking before the afternoons draw to 

 their close, or after the early morning hours before the sun 

 has got too hot and glowing. Cloudy, cool days Avill, how- 

 ever, tempt it to stay out later in the mornings and to come 

 out earlier in the afternoon, whilst a flight of termites in 

 the vicinity of its roosting-place will bring it out at any 

 hour. The winged termites it catches in the same manner 

 as do all the other Raptores from the Imperial Eagle 

 to the tiny Falconet. Once on the wing, these insects 

 seem to have very little control over their movements, and 

 I doubt if they can swerve to right or left, accelerate, or 

 reduce their speed at will — in consequence, they are very 

 easy to catch. The Hobbies swoop towards their prey, and 

 then check themselves in flight so that they seem to stand 

 on end, and one sees a foot which has been lying back under 

 the tail thrust down and forward, and the ant is grasped in 

 it and convej^ed to the mouth and eaten as the birds fly. 

 Sometimes the action is so quick that one merely sees a 

 rapid movement of the foot as the bird passes an ant at full 

 speed, but more often the action is comparatively leisurely 

 and easy to follow. 



The Hobby is, however, by no means solely insectivorous, 

 but feeds also on birds, often of some size, and is peculiarly 

 fond of Bats. I have seen sometimes below the nests of 

 these birds such numerous remains of bats that they must 

 in these instances have formed the staple food of both 

 parents and young. 



