’ 
Tue ZooLtocist—JANvARY, 1875. 4297 
male hen harrier flew very near to me, and the next second a male peregrine 
falcon appeared upon the scene in swift pursuit. I then had the pleasure 
of witnessing a flight which now-a-days must be a rare one indeed within 
the British Islands, as the peregrine made swoop after swoop at the harrier, 
and was each time baffled by its intended quarry, with greater skill than 
I could have supposed a harrier capable of. At one instant the peregrine 
made so well-aimed and vigorous a swoop that I fully expected him to bind 
his quarry, and was prepared to run forward on the chance of coming in for 
something good myself, when the harrier again eluded the stroke, and the 
flight then passed out of view behind a high ridge of sand-hills. In the 
end, however, the harrier shook off his persecutor, for later in the afternoon 
I put him up in a hummocky grass field where he was squatting —Murray 
A. Mathew ; Bishop’s Lydeard, November 21, 1874. 
Hobby at Portishead and Goldeneye near Axbridge——The hobby is of 
such rare occurrence in Somersetshire that it seems worth while mentioning 
that one, a bird of the year, was recently caught in a net at Portishead, near 
the mouth of the river Avon. I may also mention that, from the man who 
caught the last-mentioned specimen, I obtained an immature goldeneye, 
which had been shot at Axbridge, near Weston-super-Mare, on the 4th inst. 
—Marcus 8. C. Rickards; 37, Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, November 20, 
1874. 
Hobbies in East Yorkshire.—A female hobby, apparently in the second 
year’s plumage, was shot at Kilnwick, a village some few miles north of 
Beverley, by Mawson, gamekeeper, on the 6th of June last. I did not see 
the bird at the time, so am unable to give any particulars: it has been given 
me for my collection. Another one, also a female, a bird of the year, was 
shot at Flamborough, by Mr. Robert Crowe, on the 30th of September last: 
he informed me he was shooting rock pigeons (Columba livia) under the 
cliffs when he shot it. The stomach was completely crammed with the 
remains of the common dung beetle, and as a greater part of the mass had 
only been recently swallowed, I separated the portions, and by the aid of a 
magnifying-glass was enabled to see clearly the wings, legs, &c., but could 
find no trace whatever of any other kind of food. I have been informed by 
the head gamekeeper to Lord Herries, of Everingham Park, in this riding, 
that a few years ago he shot a hobby from its nest in a high oak in the 
park; the nest contained three eggs. I did not see either the bird or eggs, 
but I think he is a person not likely to be mistaken.—F’. Boyes. 
Moulting Freak of a Robin.—Bird-fanciers seem to be well acquainted 
with the method of causing the “ freak in the robin,” referred to by Mr. 
Newman in the ‘Zoologist’ for December (S. 8. 4258). At page 204 of 
‘ Beeton’s Management of Home Pets’ are the following remarks about this 
bird :—* Handsome looking birds may sometimes be seen for sale with 
white, or rather cream-coloured, feathers in the wings or tail. This is 
