THE OOLOGIST. 



17; 



jiiiliccd i-uiii|)r('iifiisii)ii a "liawk," no 

 uiatli'i- to what (^-cnus it licldii^^s, i-; the 

 lyi)!ral rcpfcsciitatiuii (if lapacioiis 

 pliuidi'i'. 



For n-cklcs.s pluck iUid dash the ratli- 

 cr small, trimly built <4't'iuis Arri/iiter is 

 rivaled l>y few aii<l surpassed liv uoue 

 of tlie feathered raee, \\itli the excep- 

 ti(Mi perha])s of tlie family Tyrdnnidac. 

 Of the three birds eoiujirisiug tlie c;-eiius 

 Accij)i/<r, ^1., coojiii-i is the ouly oue 

 whieii remains in this locality, iioi-th- 

 castern Kansas, throughout the 3'ear, 

 A.^ vclox and ^-1., atricapillus being 

 merely irregular winter visitants. The 

 wings of the Cooper's Hawk are quite 

 small for the size of the bird, though 

 what they laek in size is made up by 

 their umscular vigor. Thus the bird is 

 rendered ineapable of great soaring feats 

 or long extended Mights, but its rapid 

 movements and quiek, arrow-like dash- 

 es are so well kuown that it has aequir- 

 od the popular name of "dart hawk." 



In taking a stroll through some lone- 

 ly piece of woods on a winter's morn- 

 ing, one may often see the Uart Hawk 

 rapidly skimming along, just a!)ove the 

 ground, or seated on some seeluded 

 tree, paitially stupefied by an oAer 

 f<'ed of fresh quail, upon which it feeds 

 almost exclusivelj', during cold weather. 

 As si)ring gradually opens the leaf liuds 

 and brings its swarms of featheivd 

 songsters from tlie South, ^1. ('onpcri 

 and his consort, l)egin to seareli for a 

 suital)le nesting site. The spot usually- 

 chosen is an old crow's nest, located in 

 some secluded nook of the woods, 

 farthest from the habitation of man. 

 Th(^ nest is merely a few coarse sticks 

 and strips of bark laid on top of some 

 old deserted nest of s!)me other l)ird, 

 or if it builds a nesl for itself it closely 

 resembles a Hat-topped Crow's nest. 

 This bird does not l)uild in such lofty 

 positions as do many of oui' ha^\ ks. I 

 have never found a nest over thirt}- feet 

 frtmi the gi-ound, anil in one instance I 

 took a .set of two eggs fi'oni a nest but 



lifteell feet U)). it Usually begins to 

 lay al)out the lirst of May and lays one 

 egg daily until the set is complete. 

 (loiid authoi-ities give the nunibei- of 

 eggs layed as four or five. I ha\e iieen 

 unfortunate in getting small sets, foi- 1 

 never took more than two eggs fi-om a 

 nest, anil sometimes but one. 



'J'he eggs, oval in form, vary consid- 

 er.ably in size, a\-eragiiig about l.S,")x 

 1.47. Smallest, 1.7-1x1.4:!; largest, 1 .S,", 

 xl.48. Are usually unsixttted, light- 

 blue in color. I once took a set that 

 was spared}- marked owr the entire 

 surface with sharjj s])ecks of i-eddish- 

 brown. Incubation begins when the 

 set is t-omplete, and lasts aiiout tliree 

 weeks. From the time the young ap- 

 pear until they leave the nest, June 1st 

 to July 1st, is the })erio(l in which the 

 farmer meets with his greatest lo.sses by 

 this Inrd. During this time tln^ young 

 are fed almost exclusively on young- 

 poultry and young birds picked up in 

 the woods. After leaving, the nest the 

 young are fed for a few weeks by the 

 parents who gradually become less 

 bold, and when at last they leave tliem 

 to their fate, usually the shot-gun, tli(> 

 old birds seem to entirely disappear un- 

 til fall, when they In-ccniie as plentiful 

 as ever, l)Ut are much shyer than in the 

 spring. They show the greatest brave- 

 ry in the defenseof their nest and young. 

 On se\('ral occasions while i-itling their 

 nests, I have been struck se\-ere blows 

 on the head and back. Both bii'ds take 

 part in these attacks, continuously ut- 

 tering tht'ii- rapidly I'epeated cry of 

 "kute, kute, kute," which closely I'c- 

 senddes the li\f of the Red-bellied 

 Woodpecker ( Mi:lii)ii-rpcs ( ((rnlbuts.) 



Although outlawed by the human 

 rac-e, the reckless bravery of .1. Coop- 

 eri ought at least to entitle him to I'e- 

 spect ill spite of his numerous short- 

 comings. D. B. R., 



I'x'attie, Kan. 



