BIRDS. 155 



and, on August 21st, 1889, that gentleman shot a young male 

 that was carrying off a Teal he had just killed ; he would not 

 have fired at it, except to save his duck. 



Falco subbuteo (L.). Hobby, 



[Ols. Referring to Messrs. Baikie and Heddle's paragraph on the 

 Hobby in their book, Mr. Moodie-Heddle says : " Much rarer 

 than would appear from B(aikie) and H(eddle). I never saw 

 one. My father saw one at Aikerness, Evie, about 1865. Mr. 

 Ranken killed one on Wideford Hill, on October 25th, 1845, 

 which was soaring over a grouse he had wounded." This is, no 

 doubt, the one referred to by Messrs. Baikie and Heddle in 

 their book. 



Mr. T. Ranken tells us he has seen the Hobby flying on more 

 than one occasion, its flight being more readily distinguished 

 than that of the other hawks. The one, however, just referred 

 to as having been killed by Mr. Ranken's father at Wideford, 

 was, on investigation, found to be only a young and rather 

 small Peregrine, so we think it still open to doubt if the Hobby 

 has ever occurred in Orkney.] 



Falco aesalon, Tunstall. Merlin, 



Writing in 1848, Messrs. Baikie and Heddle record this species as 

 very common. Since then, however, it seems to have become 

 rarer. Mr. Moodie-Heddle says it is not uncommon, but rarer 

 of late years. One was sent to Mr. L. Dunbar, to be stuffed, by 

 Mr. E. S. Cameron, Burgar, Evie, on September 2d, 1887, and 

 to this there is the note, " not very plentiful in Orkney." We 

 have eggs taken in Rousay in 1883, where they are resident, a 

 few pairs breeding through the hill. They appear much more 

 plentiful in the autumn, probably young birds bred in the 

 neighbourhood, and some migrants as well. In Westness they 

 used to haunt the garden in the evening, coming after the 

 many small birds that roosted in the trees and bushes there. 



Mr. Irvine-Fortescue says it is common during the autumn 

 migration, but he has not heard of a pair nesting in his 



