26 
FALCONIDiE. 
RA P TORES. 
RALCON1DJE. 
HOBBY. 
Falco subbuteo. 
PLATE IX. PIG. I. 
This beautiful species of hawk is, I believe, rare through¬ 
out the country, and, as far as my own observation goes, 
is more common in some parts of Yorkshire than else¬ 
where ; not, however, having had an opportunity of seeing 
much of its habits, I avail myself of the information of 
Mr. Hoy. 
He informed me, that the Hobby is a late breeder, sel¬ 
dom having eggs before the first week in June; that it 
very rarely, if ever, builds its own nest, but takes posses¬ 
sion of that of a crow or magpie, preferring those which 
are placed near the tops of high trees ; and 44 though it may 
be met with breeding in large woods, seems very partial 
to isolated groves of fir and other trees situate in an open 
country, where it can not only pursue with advantage the 
feathered tribe, but also capture vast numbers of coleop¬ 
terous and other insects, upon which it feeds very much.” 
When in Norway we met with a nest of the Hobby, 
placed upon a projecting ledge of rock, on the face of a 
steep precipice, which, overhung with brushwood, formed 
a part of the beautiful scenery of one of the lovely lakes 
of that country. This was in the month of June. 
Mr. Aikin says that it used to breed in Huntingdon¬ 
shire previous to 1835, in which year he procured some of 
