The Avifauna. 



side the window and in this he took his 

 dust bath every morning. He was in a 

 habit of standing before the fire in the grate 

 of cool mornings, and on one occasion my 

 wife detected tht smell of burnt feathers 

 and noticed that Toot had backed up to the 

 fire and spread his wings in such a manner 

 that the extremities had touched some live 

 coals. On the occasion of our evening re- 

 ceptions he would sit motionless upon a 

 covered match box on the mantle without 

 apparently taking any interest in our pro- 

 ceedings. One evening a young lady re- 

 marked to her companion that I had an 

 exceedingly fine specimen of taxidermy in 

 the owl, as she approached pointing her 

 finger in close proximity to Toot. He at 

 once snapped at it, eliciting a shriek from 

 the victim and a laugh from the company. 



When vexed, if he could obtain a sheet 

 of newspaper he would viciously tear it to 

 shreds with his beak and claws. 



He was wont to sit upon my shoulder for 

 hours while I was reading in the evening 

 and he would occasionalh^ lovingly pull my 

 mustache with his beak, and sometimes he 

 considered the top of my head a capital 

 perch. , 



As he was an important member of the 

 family we thought best to perpetuate his 

 appearance in a photograph. Taking him 

 to the galler}' he was excited by his ride in 

 the rattling street car and it seemed diffi- 

 cult for him to properly compose his nerves 

 for a successful picture. Whenever the cap 

 of the camera was removed he insisted upon 

 responding with a gracefully twisted bow- 

 that totalh' upset and defeated the plans of 

 the photographer, who had no instantaneous 

 snap attached to his instrument. The pro- 

 ject was abandoned for that day but a 

 subsequent trail was made successfully. 



During an absence in the East for several 

 months we left our pet with a friend, and 

 from whose quarters he frequently strayed, 

 usually being found by the neighboring 

 boys and returned. But finally he was 

 missing for the last time, probably having 

 fallen a victim to some dog that had no 

 love or respect for an owl. 



Prof. H. C. Ford. 



Sparrow Hawk v. Cooper's Hawk 



I saw a very interesting, although very 

 brief, combat that took place recently, the 

 participants being a Sparrow Hawk and a 

 Cooper's Hawk. 



There were several song sparrows frolick- 

 ing around in a field, which I was observ- 

 ing from my ofiice window, when along 

 darted a Sparrow Hawk, catching one of 

 the little fellows and continuing on its 

 course, a few feet above the ground, for 

 perhaps about a hundred and fifty feet, and 

 then darted upward. Here a Cooper's 

 Hawk, which I had not previously observed, 

 swooped down upon the Sparrow Hawk 

 evidently bent upon taking the sparrow 

 from the latter hawk. I ran around into 

 the field, in order to obtain a better view 

 of the combat, but arrived only in time to 

 see the hawks flying away, each going in a 

 different direction. 



Which bird secured the sparrow I do not 

 know, but an examination of the ground 

 beneath the place of combat indicated that 

 it did not fall to the ground. The fight 

 while it lasted was quite spirited ; but the 

 duration, I should judge, was hardly a 

 couple of minutes. 



This incident was to me quite interesting, 

 for does it not raise the question : Do the 

 larger hawks ever prey upon the smaller 

 species of hawks ? It is well known that 

 the Cooper's Hawk is quite voracious, com- 

 monly making havoc among chickens, 

 turkeys, and ducks. Dr. Fisher (Hawks 

 and Owls of the United States) mentions an 

 instance where it was even so bold as to. 

 attack a man. 



W. E. ROTZELL, M. D.. 



Boys, if you are not positive ot" the identity oi 

 your specimens in the field do not remove them 

 until you have thoroughly convinced yourself 

 that you are correct. Again, carefully nidify 

 specimens received from other collections before 

 exchanging or selling the same. One cannot be 

 too careful ; as your reputation depends on your 

 accuracy. 



