It will follow the sportsman and seize a Quail in front of him, according to the late Howard Saunders, but Lord Lilford demurred to this, and said a Hobby will wait on over ranging dogs, on the chance of a young or moulting Skylark, but never attack game birds, as it could not hold them. It is a terror to Larks as well as Swallows, but it does some good in reducing the numbers of cockchafers and dragonflies, which are favourite articles of its diet, with other small insects.
In our country it never makes a nest for itself, but it takes possession of one that has been built by a Crow, Magpie or other bird, in a tree. The female has a curious habit of brooding on an empty nest or upon eggs of the Kestrel before she lays her own. In autumn it leaves the woodlands to take to the open country.
Cowley wrote:
“Like larks when they the tyrant hobby spy,
Some wonderstrook, stand fix’d, some fly.”
And Dryden:
“Larks lie dar’d to shun the hobbies’ flight.”
The Hobby is as big as a small pigeon, but has a slenderer body. The tip of the wing reaches to the end of the tail or even beyond it. Legs and cere are yellow. The eyes are dark brown, with a keen expression. The serrated bill is yellowish at its base, but black at the tip, which is strongly curved. The back is slate-coloured, while breast and belly are marked with black longitudinal stripes on a light ground. The Hobby builds its nest in the tops of high trees in small woods. The eggs number three or four, and are marked with thick rusty-brown spots and streaks on a ground-colour of pale buff.
USEFUL.
