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Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1178, 13 July 1911, Page 4

The latest mail from New Caledonia, which arrived (says the Sydney "Daily Telegraph") by the I'.M.S. Saliizio, contains an exciting story of a dispute between a lady and a hawk lor possession of a large hat, which the former had just received from Paris. The lady was taking a walk ill a suburb of Noumea, on a recent afternoon, when suddenly a large hawk swooped from a great height,, and fixing its claws in her hat endeavoured to carry it away. The lady screamed for help, which was fortunately forthcoming, but it was with considerable difficulty that her rescuers managed to remove the huge hat from her head. When they had done so, it proved, an equally diflicult task to detach the savage bird from her hat. The hawk hail been attracted by a largo pigeon, with which the hat was adorned, and while he tore the ornamental bird to shreds in his beak, his claws became so hopelessly tangled in the trimmings that he was unable to escape, and was eventually despatched, but not before madame's chapeau was reduced to a heap of rags. Now, if that lady had been like others of her -i'x in Sydney, she would have drawn the harpoon she wears in her hair, and the hawk would promptly have discovered that pigeon-hunting is a much more exciting pastime than is popularly supposed.