32 BRITISH BIRDS. 



however, is tempered with prudence, not to say cunning. An instance is 

 recorded (' Naumannia/ vi. p. 261) of a pair of Hobbies in a forest near 

 Munich who fed their young by dropping food from a considerable height 

 into the nest on a lofty beech, so as to keep out of gunshot of the 

 forester and his overseer, who took it in turns to watch the nest in order 

 to shoot them. At this nest another remarkable fact was observed. 

 Although both parent birds were shot for six or eight successive years, 

 and during that period no young birds were reared from this nest, yet 

 each summer found it tenanted by a new pair. I have observed exactly 

 the same fact with regard to the Merlin, which is all the more extraordinary 

 since the latter bird breeds on the ground. Like the Merlin, and pro- 

 bably many other birds of prey, the Hobby soon finds another mate if one 

 of the pair are shot. An instance is recorded (Stevenson, ' Birds of 

 Norfolk/ i. p. 18) of a female who three times in the same season found 

 herself a fresh mate after the gamekeeper had shot the male. We must 

 not call him a relentless gamekeeper ; for he allowed her to rear a brood 

 with her fourth consort. The Hobby seems to swim or dive through the 

 air, occasionally hovering for a moment and then renewing his flight. 

 He is essentially a forest bird, but hunts on the plains, devouring his 

 prey on the spot like a Peregrine. The nest is always in a tree, and 

 generally a lofty one, seldom if ever far in the forest, generally in some 

 outlying plantation, but occasionally in an isolated tree by a river-side. 

 The Hobby is very bold in attacking intruders on its breeding-grounds, 

 both parents being generally seen at the nest until the young are old 

 enough to require much food. The vicinity of its treasures is often 

 betrayed to the egg-collector by its persistent endeavours to frighten him 

 away. It seldom builds a nest of its own, usually appropriating the 

 deserted nest of a Crow. It is a late breeder; and although it arrives at 

 its breeding-grounds in Pomerania, where it is a common bird, in the 

 middle of April, it does not breed until Jame, when the young Crows have 

 already flown. Four is the usual number of eggs; but three are not 

 uncommon, and five are occasionally found. 



The Hobby still breeds in some parts of England. My friend Mr. 

 Frank Norgate found it breeding in Foxley Wood near Norwich last year, 

 and saw three nests of this rare Falcon in the same wood one day last 

 spring, each containing three eggs. They were all old Carrion-Crows' 

 nests in oak trees. Mr. Norgate robbed them earlier in the spring on 

 purpose to leave the nests empty for the Hobbies to take possession of. 

 Two of them contained Carrion-Crows' eggs, and the other those of the 

 Kestrel. When he afterwards visited the nests he found them all tenanted 

 by Hobbies. In none of the three cases did they appear to have added 

 any fresh lining to the nests. On approaching each of them he found one 

 of the parent birds, probably the male, perched in an adjoining tree. He 



