268
Lake Umbagog.
Androscoggin River.
1897
Sept. 22
(No. 4)
us to get within gun range but the Hawk,
evidently losing hope, did not return to his
usual perch but came nearby towards us and
was passing within thirty yards or less when
I shot him, dropping him on the bank. To my
surprise he proved to be a young male Gos-hawk, a
bird of the year, apparently, in the spotted
plumage. It is true that once or twice I had
suspected for a moment that he might be a
Gos-hawk for when flying his wings looked rather
too broad for even those of a large female Cooper's
but nonetheless I should have certainly refered
him to that species without much hesitation
had not the gun settled the question the other
way. I am now confident that I saw a
young Gos-hawk (perhaps this same bird) on the
Megalloway [sic] [Magalloway], Sept. 15th.
[margin]Gos hawk
&
Wood Duck[/margin]
  One thing that suggested the suspicion that the bird
killed this evening was a Gos-hawk, when he first
came in sight, was the fact that he gave such
vigorous chase to a flying Duck. I doubt if
a Cooper's Hawk would ever attempt anything
of the kind. Evidently the Gos-hawk is a
terrible fellow. He would certainly have overtaken
the Duck had she not taken to the water,
although he did not gain on her nearly so
rapidly as a Duck Hawk would have done
under similar conditions.
  The shot that secured the Gos-hwk was the
only one that I fired to-day.