27 



HOBBY. 



PLATE XIV. 



Falco subbuteo, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



" " BEWICK. FLEMING. 



" " SELBT. JENYNS. GOULD. 



THE Hobby builds in the trees of woods and forests, generally 

 among the topmost branches, but sometimes in a hole of the trunk. 

 In the former case a preference is given to isolated fir or other 

 plantations, as affording at the same time a less likelihood of distur- 

 bance, a better view of approach from all sides, and a supply of the 

 several kinds of food on which the bird lives. It has also been known 

 to build on the ledges of steep precipices and mountains. The same 

 pair will return to the same breeding-place from year to year, if not 

 disturbed. 



The nest is built of sticks, and is lined with moss, hair, and other 

 such materials. Occasionally the forsaken tenement of some other 

 species of bird is made to serve the purpose of one of its own 

 fabrication, and it frequently avails itself of that of the Carrion Crow, 

 or of the Magpie. 



The eggs are laid about the first week in June, and are two, three, 

 or four in number; some say that the former, and others that the 

 latter is the more frequent amount; they are of rather a short and 

 oval shape, and of a dingy white, or bluish white ground colouring, 

 much speckled all over with reddish or yellowish brown. Some are 

 thus mottled with olive green. 



One variety is of a dull brown, with a very slight tinge of dull 

 orange, mottled all over with small specks and marks of different 

 darker shades, a few of them much deeper than the rest. 



A second, a very elegant egg, is the faintest orange yellowish brown 

 on a white ground, minutely dotted and speckled all over with darker 

 markings of the same, a few of them much darker than the rest. 



