OF NEW ENGLAND. 351 
Audubon elsewhere adds: ‘‘I never saw one of them attack 
a quadruped, although I have frequently seen them perched 
within sight of squirrels, which I thought they might easily 
have secured, had they been so inclined.” He also says: 
‘« Many persons believe that this Hawk, and some others, never 
drink any other fluid than the blood of their victims; but this 
is an error. I have seen them alight on sand-bars, walk to the 
edge of them, immerse their bills nearly up to the eyes in the 
- water, and drink in a continued manner, as Pigeons are known 
to do.” 
The Duck Hawks are so destructive, and so much opposed 
to the interests of sportsmen, that, in spite of their admirable 
spirit and strength, it is not to be regretted that they are rare 
in Massachusetts. 
(C) cotumBarius. Pigeon Hawk. American Merlin. 
(Not very common in Massachusetts, though known to have 
bred here.) 
(a). About twelve inches long. Above, dark ashy-blue; in 
the young (and 9) ashy-brown. Forehead, tip and narrow 
bands of the tail, and markings on the wing, white or whitish. 
Tail, in g¢, also banded with black. Beneath, white, tinged 
with buff on the breast, with reddish behind, and marked with 
dark brown. 
(b). The eggs average 1:50 X 1:20 of an inch, but other- 
wise strongly resemble those of the Duck Hawk, unless more 
finely marked. James Gatley, the so-called ‘‘ Hermit of Hyde 
Park,” obtained in that town, several years before his death, 
and before the pine-woods were extensively cut down, a small 
and neatly constructed nest of this species, together with the 
parents and young. I have another nest and five eggs, which 
were found near Boston in the early part of May. ‘The latter, 
which was built in a pine about twenty feet from the ground, 
is composed of sticks, together with dry grass, strips of cedar- 
bark, and a little moss. The eggs are abnormal, being baff, 
slightly clouded with a darker shade. 
(c). The Pigeon Hawks occur in the winter so far to the 
