FALCOiNIDJE. 



moustache, only darker, extends from the hase of 

 the bill part way down each side of the throat ; the 

 throat itself and the upper part of the breast white, 

 with a few longitudinal dark streaks ; all the under 

 parts dirty white, transversely barred with dark 

 rusty ; legs and feet yellow. 



The eggs are mottled all over with reddish brown 

 on a paler ground, but they differ both in size and 

 colour, Hewitson says, according to the age of the 

 bird. 



HOBBY, Falco subbuteo. The Hobby, which is a 

 migratory species, arriving in April and departing in 

 October, is a very rare bird in these parts ; at least 

 I have never seen one about here alive, or been able 

 to obtain a specimen in the flesh, nor have I ever 

 noticed it hung up in the gamekeepers' larders 

 amongst the rest of what they call "feathered ver- 

 min," though I never pass such a place without a 

 close scrutiny. It does, however, occasionally occur, 

 as appears from the various stuffed specimens at 

 different houses in the neighbourhood, and a great 

 number of skins left by Mrs. Turle, the birdstuffer 

 at Taunton, all of which she had probably obtained 

 from neighbouring gamekeepers. 



The food of the Hobby consists mostly of small 

 birds, such as Larks, Swallows and Martins, and 

 even Swifts : it also takes Quails, young Partridges, 

 Sandpipers and Plovers : insects, such as cock- 

 chaffers, also form part of its food ; these it pursues 



