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THE RED-FOOTED FALCON OR ORANGE-LEGGED HOBBY. 

 (Falco vespertinus.) 



UNLIKE all the rest of his congeners this beautiful Falcon 

 lives exclusively on insects. It is considered by the 

 Mohammedan races as a sacred bird, on account of the 

 way in which it destroys grasshoppers. Its flight is 

 easy and bold, and the way in which he circles and 

 floats in the air is beautiful. The young ones are also 

 fed on insects, and as soon as they are fledged the little 

 flock betake themselves to the meadows or the seashore 

 and there begin with zeal their work of insect hunting. 

 They settle on the meadows, on the freshly mown rows, 

 and destroy the grasshoppers, and when there is a plague 

 of these insects the Falcons are untiring in their work of 

 extermination. It is one of the most gentle of birds, 

 and the young ones when caught become tame in the 

 course of a day. It can easily be seen from the expres- 

 sion of the eyes that there is no savagery at all in its 

 nature. How different from the glance of the Sparrow- 

 Hawk ! It is a remarkable characteristic of this bird 

 that not only does it differ from others of its species in its 

 food, but also in regard to its nest. As a rule, it does 

 not build a nest, but occupies one, generally at the cost 

 of a battle, belonging to one of a colony of rooks. The 

 fight for the nest is a fine spectacle, for in it the bird 

 exhibits to the full its fine art of flight. In Hungary it 

 is a regular migrant, and arrives in fairly large numbers. 



The Red-footed Falcon is only a rare wanderer to the 

 British Islands on its migratory flight, and chiefly to 

 England. One was recorded as shot in Scotland in 



