Concord, Mass.
1907
April 7
(No. 3)
  Among some crowded young white pines
on the western slope of Pine Ridge I found
to-day nearly if not quite all the body feathers
of a cock Partridge. This bird had evidently been
killed only a short time before by either a Hawk
or an Owl. It had apparently been struck down
in a little opening near a stone wall where the
ground was strewn with the spotted feathers of its 
rump and back. Thence a thin line of feathers
marked the course (nearly straight) over which it
had been dragged or carried for a distance of about
two rods into the heart of the dense cluster of
trees. Here it must have been very cleanly picked to
judge by the great number of feathers. Among them
were the ruffs (which were chocolate colored) but,
strange to say, I could find no primaries, nor
secondaries, nor tail feathers, nor any fragments
of flesh or bones or head or feet. That the deed
had been committed by either a Hawk or an Owl
was clearly indicated (1) by the fact that all the
feathers had been pulled out, not bitten off and (2)
by the three or four large plashes of white, chalky
excrement on the pine needles. The presence of these
"chalkings", close together, near a convenient perch afforded
by a fallen branch and surrounded by the feathers was equally
good evidence to my mind that the bird of prey
-whatever he was- made a hearty meal before leaving 
the spot. When he finally flew away he may have
taken with him what remained of the partridge 
or it may have been eaten after his departure 
by some prowling Fox or Skunk.
A cock Partridge killed & eaten by a Hawk or an Owl