In the young bird the underpart is clay colour with narrow cross stripes and large longitudinal flecks. The iris golden-yellow; feet sulphur yellow. Claws strong and sharp. The adult has a narrow white line about the ear coverts and the eye; upper parts ash-brown; four broad dark bars on the tail; underparts white, thickly barred with ash-brown; cere, iris, and legs yellow. Length of the male 20 inches; of the female 23 inches. The large nest of the Goshawk is composed of hard twigs. The eggs, usually four, are pale bluish-grey, but later they become dirty greenish-yellow, and sometimes have a few rusty or olive markings. THE HOBBY. (_Falco subbuteo._) Called in Germany the Tree Falcon. Of all the Hungarian falcons the Hobby has the swiftest flight; he even pursues the Swallow with success. All the small birds scream with terror when this bird appears. The Swallow dart in an agony of fear under their eaves; the Larks and other small birds press themselves down on the earth; the Quails and Partridges do the same. If a little bird happens to be in flight it tries with all its strength to soar higher and higher, so that the Falcon may remain beneath it, otherwise it is a lost bird. If the Falcon gets above, it shoots like an arrow, with closed wings, down on to the bird. The Hobby does not despise a grasshopper as food, in the twilight a moth does not come amiss; indeed it has lately been observed that it sometimes snaps at bees. But it does not eat carrion. In the olden days the Hobby has also been used to hunt small birds. At the present day it is a great friend to the railway, where it circles about the trains and drives away the small birds. It is by no means rare in Hungary. In England the Hobby arrives about the latter part of May, and it may at intervals be found breeding in most of the Southern counties, notably in Hampshire. Once it nested in Essex pretty regularly, also to a certain extent in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk, rarely in Yorkshire, sometimes in the Midlands, but in the West and in Wales it is scarce. It has never been known to nest in Scotland, and very few Hobbies have been seen in Ireland. [Illustration: HARMFUL. THE HOBBY.] 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.