RAPTOKES. 5 



crow's nest in Pinner Wood, and one of these I 

 have since added to my collection. 



A correspondent sent me word that a Hobby 

 had been killed at Harrow during the early part 

 of 1862; and on the 24th April, 1863, Mr. Bond 

 shot a beautiful bird of this species at Kingsbury. 

 I saw it the same day and afterwards dissected it. 

 Although the plumage was that of an adult male, 

 it proved, to my surprise, to be a female, and a 

 cluster of rudimentary eggs was apparent in the 

 ovary. Upon opening the stomach, I found it 

 full of the elytra and remains of large beetles and 

 chafers, which confirms the statement of Mr. 

 Yarrell respecting the food of this species. 



I have seen a handsome male Hobby in the 

 collection of Mr. James Dutton, of Hammersmith, 

 which was shot at Chiswick, in July, 1863 ; and I am 

 informed by that gentleman that a second was 

 more recently obtained in the same locality. I 

 once found the remains of a Hobby, which had 

 been shot, in Bishop's Wood, Hampstead. 



Meyer, in his ' Illustrations of British Birds,' 

 says that the Hobby may be distinguished from 

 the Merlin or Kestrel, when flying, by its narrow- 

 pointed wings and slender form, and adds that it 

 chooses for its prey, larks, swallows, and martins, 

 which it pursues in the air, following them easily 

 in all their evolutions, and strikes with such 



B 3 



