48 FALCONID A. 
Dr. Andrew Smith considers it as an inhabitant also of 
South Africa in the vicinity of the Cape. From the 
eastern part of Europe the Hobby is traced to Astrachan 
and to India. Mr. Selby mentions having received spe- 
cimens from that country in every respect similar to our 
own; and a collection of birds exhibited at the Zoological 
Society in 1831, which was formed by Major James 
Franklin on the Ganges between Calcutta and Benares, 
also contained specimens of the Hobby. 
The food of this species appears to consist of small birds 
and large coleopterous insects. My friend Mr. Henry 
Doubleday sent me word that the stomachs of two speci- 
mens examined by him were filled with the common dung- 
chaffer, Geotrupes stercorarius. 
Specimens of the Hobby measure from twelve to four- 
teen inches, depending on age or sex. The male bird 
from which the figure was taken had the beak bluish horn 
colour, darkest at the tip; the cere greenish yellow, the 
irides dark brown; the top of the head, nape, back and 
upper wing-coverts, greyish black; the edges of the fea- 
thers buffy white; the wing-primaries and secondaries 
nearly black, edged with dull white: the two middle tail- 
feathers uniform greyish black; the others slightly barred 
with a lighter colour. The tips also lighter; the chin and 
side of the neck white; the cheek and moustache black ; 
the breast, belly, and thighs, yellowish white, with lon- 
gitudinal patches of brownish black; under tail-coverts dull 
white; under surface of the tail-feathers barred with dull 
white and greyish black; the legs and toes yellow; the 
claws black. 
Old birds have the upper surface of the body inclining to 
bluish grey; in young birds the plumage is tinged with 
rufous. 
