C. If. Merriam — Birds of Connecticut. 81 



true Falcons, but by a side glance. It is restless, seldom alighting 

 but for a moment, except to devour its quarry, and then it stands 

 almost erect. Its flight is so rapid that it can easily overtake the 



swift Pigeon on the wing When looking for prey it skims 



along near the surface of the ground with great velocity, and catches 

 its game so quickly and easily as scarcely to be seen by the looker-on." 

 " The Goshawk is the most daring and venturesome of any of our 

 diurnal birds of prey. A farmer who resides a few miles from my 

 office, wishing to perpetuate the old New England custom of having 

 a chicken-pie for Thanksgiving dinner, caught some fowls, took them 

 to a log, severed the neck of one, and threw it down beside him. 

 In an instant a Goshawk seized the struggling fowl, and, flying off 

 some ten rods, alighted and commenced devouring its prey. The 

 boldness of the attack so astonished the farmer that he looked on 

 with blank amazement. Recovering from his surprise, he hastened 

 into the house and brought out his gun, which secured him both the 

 Hawk and the fowl."* 



Pennant, in 1785, tells us that Goshawks "are used by the 

 Emperor of China in his sporting progresses, attended by his grand 



falconer, and a thousand of the subordinate The Emperor 



often carries a Ilawk on his hand, to let fly at any game which pre- 

 sents itself; which are usually Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, or 

 Cranes. 3furco Polo saw this diversion about the year 1269. "f 



160. Falco communis Gmelin. Peregrine Falcon ; Duck Hawk. 



Resident, but rare; breeds on Talcott Mountain, near Hartford, 

 Conn. Linsley tells us that, previous to the year 1842, a specimen of 

 this celebrated and powerful bird was wounded by a gun-shot in 

 Stratford, [Conn.], and after he was taken soon recovered, and was kept 

 on poultry until he became too expensive to the owner,"J who then 

 released him. Air. Geo. Bird Grinnell informs me that he saw T , on the 

 23d of February, 1876, a Duck Hawk (or Great-footed Hawk, as it is 

 often called), flying about the Sound, near Milford, Conn. 



On the 29th of June, 1877, while enjoying the hospitality of Capt. 

 O. N. Brooks, at Faulkner's Island, Conn., in company with my 

 friend, Air. Jno. H. Sage, the Terns breeding on Goose Island (one mile 



* Dr. Wood, in Am. Nat, vol. x, No. 3, pp. 132-4. March, 1876. 

 f Arctic Zoology. By Thomas Pennant, vol. ii, p. 204. 1785. 

 \ Linsley's Catal. Birds Conn., p. 250, 1843. 



Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IV. 11 July, 1877. 



