72 



nesting regularly in Dorsetshire ; and in Mr. Brooking Rowe's book, which he has kindly sent 

 us, we find it stated that in Devonshire it is ' scarce ; has been noticed as early as March ; bred at 

 one time in the woods at Lydford, where they were said to be very numerous.' " 



In Gloucestershire, Mr. Elwes says, it is rare, and he only knows of one instance of its 

 breeding near Cheltenham. 



From Cornwall Mr. Eodd records it. He says that in " this country it is a rare summer 

 visitor. One killed by the Trebartha keeper, on the Bodmin moors, a few years since ; another 

 at Greston wood, near Launceston." 



Further north the Hobby gradually becomes scarcer, though we are informed by Lord 

 Lilford that near Lilford, until within the last few years, " the Hobby used to be tolerably 

 common, and bred annually within a few miles till about fifteen years ago. I have not seen 

 more than four or five, to make certain of, during the last ten years. I cannot state with any 

 certainty the date of their appearance in the spring; but it was no uncommon thing to see 

 several individuals in a day's partridge-shooting in September, till the years 1856-57-58." 



Mr. George Cavendish Taylor informs us that in September 1866 he found a brood that 

 had been raised in a wood a few miles distant from Rugby, in "Warwickshire, and obtained a 

 specimen. 



Dr. Tristram sends a note : — " Falco subbuteo is very rare in the north of England. I only 

 know of two examples in Northumberland, one of which was picked up dead by myself on the 

 Farn Islands, having been caught on the lighthouse the day previous by Grace Darling's father, 

 who had clipped one wing." 



Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., writes: — "As regards the occurrence of the Hobby in Durham, I 

 can tell you that Mr. Newby has a male, which was shot from a boat at Newport, by a Mr. Wyatt, 

 on the 14th of June, 1849. Mr. Hogg mentions another, shot near Norton (App. to Brewster's 

 ' History of Stockton') ; and Mr. Hancock has a third, shot at Streatham Castle. In Wallis's 

 'History of Northumberland' (p. 150), it is stated, probably on Wingate's authority, that the 

 Hobby breeds, but is a bird of passage, and very scarce." 



Sir William Jardine, writing in 1836, did not know of any authentic instance of the Hobby 

 having been obtained in Scotland ; but our friend Mr. A. R. Alston informs us that it " has been 

 met with occasionally in the south of Scotland. Mr. R. Gray says that it has occurred in the 

 counties of Dumfries, Roxburgh, and Kirkudbright." 



According to Messrs. Baikie and Heddle, the present species is " seen in Orkney every 

 summer, but always leaves about the end of autumn. One was killed near Kirkwall in 1845, so 

 late as the 29th of October. It preys chiefly on small birds, but will occasionally attack even 

 a grouse." 



It has once only been obtained in Ireland, according to Thompson. 



In France, Degland and Gerbe record the Hobby as common, particularly in the north. 

 Lord Lilford also writes to us : — " It is tolerably common, and breeds in many parts of France. 

 I have heard of it in abundance near Chalons-sur-Mame ; and it is occasionally found near 

 Angers; in the neighbourhood of Amiens I have also seen it." 



Jaubert and Barthelemy Lapommeraye also say it is " very common in the south of France 

 during the season of migration, and sometimes remains over winter, but seldom breeds here." 



