18 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



delicate, and difficult to keep long in confinement, but 

 it is a delightful bird as a pet, from its great docility 

 and fearlessness, besides its preeminent beauty of 

 plumage and graceful make. A Hobby may be 

 trained in a few days to follow its master anywhere. 

 I regret to say that my gamekeeper shot a beautiful 

 adult male Hobby on August 26, 1879, by mistake for 

 a Sparrow-Hawk, at a short distance from his house, 

 and within half a mile from this. He told me that 

 after shooting this bird he saw another of undoubt- 

 edly the same species within easy gunshot. It is my 

 earnest wish to protect all birds of prey, except the 

 Sparrow-Hawk and various members of the genus 

 Corvus ; but perhaps it is too much to expect of a 

 gamekeeper to discriminate in these matters, though 

 in this instance the error was recognized in time to 

 save the life of (as I hope) the female parent of a 

 brood of young Hobbies. I am glad to say that since 

 this article appeared in the ' Northamptonshire Nat. 

 Hist. Journal ' the Hobby has certainly become very 

 much more common in our neighbourhood than it 

 was for many years previously. Between the years 

 1882 and 1890 inclusive I had positive evidence of 

 the hatching-out of no less than ten broods of this 

 species in our district, and sixteen nestlings were 

 brought to me without, so far as I know, the de- 

 struction of any of the parent birds. 



