81 
ORANGE-LEGGED HOBBY. 
Falco rufipes, BECHSTEIN. 
Falco vespertinus, GMELIN, LinNa&us. LATHAM, 
Falco—To cut with a bill or hook. Rufipes. Rufus—Red. 
Pes—A foot. 
THERE is not much at present to be said about the species 
before us, and it is so far well, in that it allows the greater 
space to treat of other more common, and therefore better 
known, British Birds. In a work of this kind, it is, for the 
most part, room and not matter that is wanting; ‘brevis 
esse laboro,’ and it is a matter of regret that I am obliged 
to do so, but a necessarily short article in the one case 
leaves the more scope for a longer one in another. 
The Orange-legged Hobby, delighting in a mountainous 
and at the same time wooded region, is common in some 
parts of Europe, but rare in others. It is plentiful in Russia, 
Silesia, Hungary, Poland, and Austria; less so in Italy, Swit- 
zerland, and the Tyrol; uncommon in France, and unknown 
in Holland. 
But very few examples of British specimens of this species 
have as yet been obtained. In Yorkshire, a male has been 
recorded by J. 8S. Foljambe, Esq., to have been obtained some 
years since; another is said to have been shot at Rossington, 
near Doncaster; a third was killed a few years ago near 
Easingwold, and was sent to Mr. H. Chapman, of York, to 
be preserved, with a message that if it was a cuckoo, he was 
to stuff it for the person who shot it; but that if it was 
not a cuckoo, he might, if he stuffed it, keep it for his pains. 
A fourth was shot on the 6th. of May, 18—, at Stainor 
Wood, near Selby. Three were obtained together in the 
month of May, in the year 1830, at Horning, in the county 
of Norfolk, an adult male, a young male in immature plumage, 
and an adult female. A fourth specimen, a female, was also 
shot in Holkham Park, the seat of Mr. Coke, (Lord Leicester ;) 
VOL, I. G 
