



248 



HOBBY. 



Class II. 



Descrip- 

 tion. 



Female. 



a ready prey to the fowler, by drawing a net 

 over them. The hobby is a bird of passage, 

 but breeds * in England; it migrates in October. 

 The male weighs seven ounces : the length 

 is one foot ; the breadth two feet three inches. 

 The cere and orbits are yellow : irides hazel : 

 upper mandible furnished with a process : 

 above each eye a white line : the crown of 

 the head and back are of a deep bluish 

 black : the hind part of the head is marked 

 with two pale yellow spots ; each cheek with 

 a large black one pointing downwards : the 

 coverts of the winos are of the same color 

 with the back, but slightly edged with rust 

 color : the interior webs of the secondary and 

 quil feathers, are varied with oval transverse red- 

 dish spots. The breast white, marked with ob- 

 long spots of black : thighs and vent feathers, 

 pale orange : the two middle feathers of the tail 

 are entirely of a deep dove color; the others are 

 barred on their interior sides with rust color, 

 and tipt with a dirty white : legs yellow. The 

 spots on the breast of the female are of a higher 



* It makes its nest on a low tree, and even on a moderate 

 sized hawthorn ; sometimes lays in an old crow's nest ; the 

 eggs are three or four in number, and said to be of a white color. 

 As far as we can learn, it is migratory in every place where it h 

 found. J. L. 



