Another interesting possibility:
rsync --partial --progress --rsh="ssh -i dsa_private_file" host_name@host:/home/me/d .
Note: -i dsa_private_file which is your RSA/DSA private key
Basically, this approach is very similar to the one described by @Mad Scientist, however you do not have to copy your private key to ~/.ssh. In other words, it is useful for ad-hoc tasks (one time passwordless access)