Concord, Mass.
1909 
March 19 
(No 5) 
  The bird of prey, which quite evidently had been 
the murderer, had gorged himself with the flesh of 
his victim. It may have been either during or just 
after his repast that he voided his chalky white
excrement. I found no less six splashes of it 
on the dry leaves, each of them almost continuous 
for a foot or more and two inches broad in places. 
This indicated a Hawk or Owl of the largest size as 
did also the fact that the skull had been cut through 
in several places (across the frontal bone and both orbital
bones) as clearly as if with some powerful steel
implement. Nothing short of a Goshawk or a Great Horned
Owl could well have done such work. Partridges never
roost (except under snow) in places such as that where
this bird had been seized and Owls catch them, as for as 
I have observed, only when they are roosting in trees.