54 | Andrew Fackson Grayson. [ ZOE 
able to save it. There were no other species of vulture near this 
dead animal. Iam of the opinion that it seldom makes its appear- 
ance on the western coast of Mexico. 
Coorer’s Hawk. Accipiter cooperi (Bp.)—I shot a specimen of 
this hawk at a ranch near Rio Mazatlan. It had just made an un- 
successful raid upon the poultry yard and created great consterna- 
tion among the hens with their broods of small chickens. It con- 
tinued on, flying very near the ground for about a hundred yards 
and perched upon a low stump. Like the sharp-shinned hawk and 
one or two others of closely allied species it has the habit of flying 
very swiftly near the ground when hunting for its prey, as if to 
come upon it suddenly without being seen, at times rising and 
falling in an undulating manner, resembling the flight of the yellow- 
hammer woodpecker. When thus upon its tour of rapine the birds 
lie close under cover, well knowing the brave and desperate spirit 
of this keen little hawk. At last he surprises a flock of quail, his 
favorite game, onward he dashes among them, the affrightened 
birds are so confused and panic stricken as scarcely to know which 
course to flee, they scramble in every direction, but the reckless 
hunter in an instant has selected one and furiously dashes headlong 
amidst the brambles and grass in which the unfortunate game en- 
deavors to make its escape. But too late, crying and plaintive 
notes of the poor quail are heard, he has seized it in his powerful 
and sharp claws and immediately bears it off, flying near the ground 
until he finds some secluded spot beneath a canopy of bushes and 
vines where either upon’a prostrate log or on the ground he devours 
his prey at leisure. Not a few of similar incidents have I witnessed 
' with this hawk, or its near allies. 
I have found this hawk not uncommon in the locality of Mazat- 
lan during the winter months; it is most usually met with about old 
fields where there are brambles which the kind of prey it seeks _ 
inhabit. Field mice and other species of small rodents form a part 
of its subsistence as well as birds. Of all the hawks it is perhaps 
the greatest chicken thief, and is a terror to the old hens and chick- 
ens of the farmyard. Once it commences upon a brood it will 
return daily until many are captured. It usually perches beneath 
the thick foliage of a tree, or in some obscure place near the ground, 
where from its place of concealment it sly 
© pounce upon its prey. * * * * * To. unable to state 
ly watches its opportunity — : 
