code: def _connect(self):
          
          self.status_code = 'Unknown'
  
          try:
              # make request and get response
              self.response = response = self.rate_limited_get(
                  self.url,
                  params=self.params,
                  headers=self.headers,
                  timeout=self.timeout,
                  proxies=self.proxies
              )
  
              # check that response is ok
              self.status_code = response.status_code
              response.raise_for_status()
  
              # rely on json method to get non-empty well formatted JSON
              json_response = response.json()
              self.url = response.url
              LOGGER.info("Requested %s", self.url)
  
          except requests.exceptions.RequestException as err:
              # store real status code and error
              self.error = u'ERROR - {}'.format(str(err))
              LOGGER.error("Status code %s from %s: %s",
                           self.status_code, self.url, self.error)
  
              # return False
              return False
  
          # return response within its JSON format
          return json_response
docs: - Query self.url (validated cls._URL)
              - Analyse reponse and set status, errors accordingly
              - On success:
  
                   returns the content of the response as a JSON object
                   This object will be passed to self._parse_json_response