BRITISH BIRDS OF FASTEST FLIGHT 47 
there was no evidenee as to whether the hawk had 
not taken the swift by surprise. But there is at 
least one recorded instance in which a swift has 
been killed by a hobby in fair flight. This is to 
be found in that delightful book, Field Studies 
of some Rarer British Birds,^ by Mr. William 
Walpole Bond, The description of the race is so 
vivid that, with the author's kind permission, I 
reproduce it here. 
" On June 14, 1907, as I lay in a spacious 
clearing of a big Sussex woodland, a sudden 
swirl of wings gave me instant pause in my 
meditations. Looking up, my eyes were held 
by a swift coasting earthwards in frantic haste, 
hotly pursued by a hobby not many yards in his 
wake. I literally held my breath with excitement, 
for here was an occurrence of dreamland only. 
Speeding on about a level with the tree - tops 
both birds measure the length of the long glade 
in fractional time, and the hawk gains almost 
imperceptibly. 
" Then the pursued makes a mighty effort ; 
he rises gamely, even slightly increasing his lead. 
Indeed it seemed he might shake off his deadly 
courser. Alas, my friend, it is to no purpose ; 
1 Pp. 258-259 (Witherby & Co., London, 1914). 
