C. 11. Merriain — Blrih of Connecticut. 81 



true F.ak'ons, but by u side glance. It is restless, seldom alighting 

 but for a moment, except to devour its (][uarry, 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 groimd with great velocity, and catches 

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

 " The Goshawk is the nn)st daring and venturesome of any of our 

 diurnal bii-ds of prey. A farmer who resides a few miles Irom my 

 oftice, 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 Goshaw^k seized the struggling fowl, and, flying ofi" 

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

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

 with blank amazement. Kecovering from his surprise, he hastened 

 into the house and l)rought out his gun, which secured him both the 

 Hawk and the fowl."* 



Pennant, in 17S5, tells us tliat 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 Hawk on liis hand, to let fly at any game which pre- 

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

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



1 60. FalCO communis Gmelin. Peregrine Falcon ; Duck Hawk. 



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

 Conn. Linsley tells us that, previous to the year 1K42, a specimen of 

 this celebrated and powerful biid was w^ounded by a gun-shot in 

 Stratford, [Conn.], and after he was taken so(^)n recovered, and was kept 

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

 released him. ]\Ir. Geo. Bird Grinnell informs me that he saw, on the 

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

 often called), flying about the Sound, near ^Nlilford, 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, Mr. 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. 

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



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



