Note 339 — NEW ENGLISH CANAAN OR NEW CANAAN. (continued 2)

If Morton always uses tassel in its commonly accepted sense (see preceding notes), another application must be sought for the present name. The accompanying text may relate to the Marsh Hawk (Circus cyaneus Hudsonius), the adult male of which is our whitest New England Hawk, and the young or female perhaps the reddest. The Marsh Hawk does not prey on full-grown poultry, but it may have been credited with depredations committed by other species, a piece of injustice by no means uncommon at the present day.