Birds of Prey. 
I 2 
and Magpies, but the 
cunning way in which 
these latter birds manage 
to avoid the swoop of the 
Falcons, often leads to 
their ultimate escape. 
The Peregrine 
generally lays its eggs 
on the bare rock, or 
under a shelving ledge, 
but it occasionally adopts 
the old nest of some 
other bird on a tree ; the 
eggs are from two to four 
in number, they are 
generally very hand- 
somely clouded and 
blotched with shades of 
rufous and chestnut, and 
measure about two inches 
in length. 
The Peregrine Falcon. The Greenland Gyr-Falcon. 
The Red-footed Kestrel. 
This is k much smaller 
THE HOBBY. , , T1 
species than the Peregrine, 
(Falco subbuteo.) r & 
and is easily recognised 
from that species by its rufous thighs and dis- 
tinctly streaked throat and breast. It is a sum- 
mer visitor to Europe, and breeds from Northern 
and Central Europe throughout Northern Asia 
to Kamtchatka, wintering in China, India and 
Africa. It still nests in small numbers in Eng- 
land every summer, and has been known to do 
so also in the south of Scotland, but most of 
the captures are those of birds on migration. 
The food of the Hobby consists chiefly of 
insects, such as dragon-flies which it catches 
and devours on the wing, and it also feeds on 
small birds, such as Larks and Sandpipers. It 
generally appropriates the deserted nest of a 
Crow, which it sometimes repairs and re-lines. 
The Hobby. 
