85 
No. 18. Hypotriorchis Subbuteo, Liv. 
THe Hospy. 
Of the breeding habits of this species in India, I as yet know 
nothing. Although common enough in some parts of the 
Himalayahs, it is a rare visitant, and then only in the cold sea- 
son, to the plains, and if it breeds any where within our limits, 
it will be, I apprehend, in the higher ranges of the Hills. My. 
R. Thompson, writing from Kumaon, the 16th September, says, 
“7 saw yesterday, our English Hobby, numbers of which visit 
India during the cold weather ; every mountain top of 12,000 
feet and upwards had flocks of them hunting about for insects, 
last September, when I was out in the interior. I am inclined to 
doubt whether the Hobby breeds any where in the Himalayahs, 
south of the snowy range.” 
Of the breeding of this species in England, Mr. Yarrell gives 
the following particulars: “The Hobby, though a well known 
bird, is not very numerous as a species. It chooses a high tree 
to make its nest on, occasionally taking to the remains of one of 
suitable size, that has been deserted. The female lays three or 
four eggs, like those of all the true Falcons in shape and colour, 
that is, of a short oval form, speckled all over with reddish 
brown, on a dirty white ground; the length, 1°67 inches; the 
breadth, 1°33. 
Mr. Hewitson, quoting Mr. Hoy, tells us that “the Hobby is 
a late breeder; seldom having eggs before the first week in June; 
that it very rarely, if ever, builds its own nest, but takes posses- 
sion of that of a Crow, or Magpie, preferring those which are 
placed near the tops of high trees; and that, though it may be 
met with, breeding in large woods, it seems to prefer isolated 
eroves of fir, and other trees, situated in open country, where it 
can not only pursue small birds, but readily capture coleopterous 
and other insects on which it feeds very much. Mr. Hewitson, 
himself, found a nest, in Norway, in the month of June, placed 
upon a projecting ledge of rock, on the face of a steep precipice. 
The Hobby “e tells us, lays two or three eggs. 
The one he figures, has a pale salmon coloured ground, close- 
ly freckled and mottled with salmon red, and measures 1:58 by 
1:26. He says that the eggs are not subject to much variety, 
but that specimens entirely devoid of dark markings are met 
with. The eggs are usually very regularly freckled, over the 
whole surface, and more nearly resemble (in colour) the eggs of 
the Iceland Falcon, than those of any other species. The dark- 
est varieties, he adds, are rather like some lightly coloured eggs 
of the Kestrel, being, however, of a pinker hue, and without any 
