548 FALGO 



Dan. and Norweg. ; DvergfaXk, Swed. ; PikJcuhaukka, Pouta- 

 haukka, Finn. ; Cicasfalli, Lapp. ; Derbnic, Russ. ; Juju, Arab. ; 

 Dourai $ , Dourela $ , Hindu. ; Kocho-genbo, Jap. 



ad. (Scotland). Crown and upper parts clear slate-blue, with blackish 

 shaft lines ; a collar and sides of neck pale rufous, with dark lines ; quills 

 blackish, with white bars on the inner web ; tail paler than the back, with 

 a broad subterminal black band, and with indistinct basal bars ; sides of 

 head dull white, with fine blackish stripes ; chin and upper throat white ; 

 rest of under parts white, washed with rufous and striped with blackish 

 brown, the thigh-feathers more rufous ; bill bluish horn, {darker at the 

 tip j legs and cere yellow ; iris dark brown. Culmen 0'7, wing 7'9, 

 tail 5 '3, tarsus 1*45 inch. Female larger and differing in having the upper 

 parts dark brown, with a greyish tinge, with black shaft-stripes, edged and 

 spotted with reddish brown ; tail dark brown, with rufous buff bands and 

 tipped with buffy white ; chin and upper throat white ; rest of under 

 parts whitish, broadly striped with brown. The young resemble the 

 female, but males are a little greyer on the tail and rump. 



Hob. Europe generally, from Iceland and Northern Scandi- 

 navia to Great Britain ; southern Europe and North Africa in 

 winter, south to Nubia ; Asia east to Corea, north to Northern 

 Siberia, south to Northern India, Mongolia, China and Japan 

 in winter. 



Frequents moors, rocks, and more open places than the 

 Hobby, and is a bold and game bird, swift and active on the 

 wing, preying chiefly on small birds and mammals, but it also 

 feeds to some extent on insects. It generally nests on the 

 ground, but in some countries sometimes makes use of the 

 nest of some other bird in trees. When constructed by the 

 bird itself the nest is flat and not large, built of sticks and 

 heather. The eggs, from 4 to 6 in number, are dull brick-red 

 closely spotted and mottled with dark brownish red, sometimes 

 faintly tinted with purple, and in size average 1'55 by 1*21. 



769. HOBBY. 

 FALCO SUBBUTEO. 



Falco subbuteo, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 127 (1766) ; Naum. i. p. 296, Taf. 

 26 ; Hewitson, i. p. 26, pi. ix. fig. 1 ; Gould, B. of. E. i. pi. 22 ; id. 

 B. of Gt. Brit. pi. 18 ; Newton, i. p. 65 ; Dresser, vi. p. 69, pis. 378, 

 379 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. i. p. 395 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. O. p. 84 ; 

 Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 422 ; Saunders, p. 349 ; Lilford, i. 

 p. 44, pis. 20, 21. 



Le Hobereau, French ; ' Alcotdn, Span. ; Falcao tagarote, 

 Portug. ; Lodolajo, Ital. ; Lerchenfalke, Germ. ; Boomvalk, 



