of the bird of the year are often strongly tinged, especially
at the edges, with rufous; and some adults are extremely
rufous beneath, others having scarcely a trace of the warmer
colouring. There is a remarkable specimen in Mr. Newcome’s
collection, in which the belly, vent, and flanks are of a
light blue-grey, with the usual dark bars. This was a bird
which had been in training for some time. Occasionally,
and most often in the young, the feet are of a light blue
or grey. According to Professor Sclilegel, the kind of food
eaten by the birds makes a sensible difference in the tints of
the plumage, the reddest being those which prey mostly on
Ducks, or other fat water-fowl. I t is, however, a well-known
fact, that the greatest differences may often be seen in
Eyasses from the same nest, brought up under the same
conditions, and on the same diet.
Mr. W. Gf. Johnstone, in a communication to the ‘ Natura
list’ for 1853, states that a pair of Peregrine Falcons,
after having been kept in confinement for some years, not only
laid two eggs, but continued to sit on them for twelve days,
the male taking his share of duty. Being disturbed by
strangers, the process of incubation was interrupted ; but
there was every reason to believe that young would have
been produced from the assiduity displayed by the parent
birds while they sat, and the fact that the eggs, on examination,
proved to be fertile.
A CCIPITRES. t'ALCON! D/E.
F alco s u b b u t e o , Linnaeus*.
T H E H O B B Y .
Falco subbuteo.
T h e H obby, a true Falcon, though of small size, may be
considered a Peregrine Falcon in miniature, but is rather
less bulky in proportion to the whole length ; the body of
the bird being slender, the tail elongated, and the points of
the wings reaching even beyond the tail. It sits like a
Swallow, close to its perch, with its wings much crossed,
and the carpal joints thrust out. In this country it is a
summer visitor, appearing in April, and leaving again generally
in October for warmer regions, like other summer
visitors.
* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 127 (1766).
VOL. I . K