376 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Habits, &c.—A shy bird, which frequents inaccessible 
ledges of rocky cliffs. It hunts chiefly in the early morning 
and evening, and feeds exclusively on birds, chiefly pigeons, 
parroquets, swallows, and swifts. In its swoop it is as swift 
and bold as the larger Peregrine, and for this reason is a great 
favourite with Indian Falconers. It has been found breeding 
at Sigiriya in June. The nest is a mass of sticks placed on the 
ledge of a cliff. The three eggs are brownish-yellow, pinkish, 
or brick-red, speckled and blotched with reddish-brown. 
The ground colour may vary greatly in a single clutch. They 
are broad oval in shape, and measure about 2°05 by 1°65. 
Fatco sEveRus (Blantord Vol. ILI., p. 423 ; 
Regger ps to): 
The Indian Hobby. 
Description.—Adult : Cheeks, sides of head, crown, and 
hind-neck black, shading into dark slate-gray with black 
shafts on the remainder of the upper parts ; wing quills and 
larger coverts black, the inner webs of the quills deep brown 
with some rufous bars or spots ; tail slate-gray with a darker 
bar near the tip. Chin, throat, and sides of neck white, 
washed with rufous ; rest of lower parts deep rusty red. 
Young birds: Upper plumage. brownish-black with light 
rufous edges to the feathers; the inner webs of the tail 
feathers, except the central pair, banded with rufous ; breast, 
abdomen, wing lining, and tail coverts with long drop-shaped 
black markings. 
Bill lead colour ; cere and orbital skin pale lemon-yellow ; 
iris deep brown ; legs yellow. 
Females : length 11°5 ; wing 9°75; tail4°5 ;. tarsus 1°36 ; 
mid-toe without claw 1°35; bill from gape °9.  - 
Males : length 10°5; wing 8°5. 
Distribution.—A very rare straggler, recorded from two or 
three up-country localities during the north-east monsoon. 
It occurs on the lower Himalayas eastwards of Kulu, in 
Assam, and Manipur, and occasionally during winter in the 
Indian Peninsula. It is also met with in the Malay Archi- 
pelago and New Guinea. 
