short of a Goshawk or a Great H 0 rned 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 far as I have observed, only when they 
are roosting in trees. 
Hence I am inclined, after thinking the matter over 
carefully, as I was at first blush, to attribute the deed 
to a Goshawk. It must have been committed within twenty- 
four hours for the feathers had not been blown about as they 
would have been by the raging wind that blew most of yester¬ 
day nor had the fragments of flesh adhering to the skull 
become too dry to yield a few drops of blood when I squeezed 
them tightly. The Hawk's excrement was almost but not quite 
dry. I judged that it had been exposed to the sun and 
wind not over six or seven hours. All this evidence inclines 
me to believe that the Partridge was killed about nine or 
ten o'clock this forenoon. I neglected to say that every 
one of the feathers I examined had been picked out and not 
bitten off . I found no soft flesh or bony fragments 
besides those already mentioned. Yesterday forsnoon I saw 
a very large Hawk that looked like a Goshawk. I noticed 
especially its long tail as it flew over the field in front 
of our house. No Goshawks have been reported to me this 
past winter, however. 
