76 C. H. Merriaiu — Birds of Connecticnt. 



mile, (living- so close to my head that I expected every moment he 

 would have liohl of me.* Taking my gun, we walked towards the 

 swamp, when he informed me that ' he came out there to practice 

 elocution, so as not to disturb any one, and before he liad finished 

 tlie vowel sounds the Hawk came at him.' On arriving near the 

 place I requested him to commence his vocal exercises again, so as 

 t3 atibrd me an opportunity for practicing on the wing. He com- 

 menced, and, if that was a specimen of elocution, no wonder the 

 Hawk drove him from the premises, for of all the earthly or unearthly 

 sounds ever uttered, those exceeded anything I ever heard, Tf l)lind- 

 fold, one wonld have supposed that there was a concert of Great 

 Horned Owls of all ages, echoing through the forest ' waugh ho ! 



oo, e, ah, 



' Making night hideous,' 



almost tempting one to think, if not to utter, the penult of the word 

 named. The bird without doubt recognized the vowel sounds, for 

 she soon came around, but either not liking the looks of me or my 

 gun, kept at a respectful distance, flying about, uttering the peculiar 

 cry of the Marsh Hawk Neither the attempts of Audubon or Nutt- 

 all to interi)ret their song has elucidated it according to my ear. It 

 appears to me to sound like the male falsetto descending quickly 

 from high F to D, key of two sharps, with the syllables hey, ha, ha, 

 in compound time, accenting the flrst note very forcibly. The next 

 day we went again to the swamp, but taking the precaution to con- 

 ceal myself in the bushes before he commenced his elocutionary ex- 

 ercises, the bird dove at him as before, when he sung out lustily, 

 ' shoot ! shoot ! shoot !' Discovering me the hawk changed her 

 tactics, much to the relief of my friend, and, poishig herself for a 

 moment, dove with so much force at my head as to make a distinct 

 rustling sound. After allowing her to repeat tliis several times to 

 see if she would really take hold of my craniiim, my old gun went 

 off, carrying death in its track, much to the joy of my companion, 

 who now, for the first time, ventured to take a full breath since com- 

 ing into the swamp."* 



156. NaucleruS forficatUS (Lhhk-) Ridgway. Swallow-tailed Kite. 



A rare straggler from the South, at present. Mr. Josiali (i. Ely, 

 of Lyme, New London County, Conn., writes me that while hunting 

 on the 2d of July (1877), one of these magnificent birds flew over his 



* Hartford Times, chap. xv. June 29, 1861. 



