93 



THE IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



find my nest until it contained 

 young" birds, and he was not 

 heartless enoug-h to molest them, 

 so we are on better terms nov,', 

 than we once were. 

 1 have a picture of my humble 

 personag-e. that was drawn by the 

 hand of one of the g-enus Homo; 

 it does not resemble me much, 

 as I seldom get into such a dig-- 

 nified position; nevertheless, I 

 will enclose it with this article 

 and if the Editor thinks best he 

 may place it in the mag^azine. 

 Next a few words about my an- 

 cestors, or rather, what has been 

 written about the species of which 

 I am a specimen. That noted 

 Ornitholog-ist, Alexander Wilson, 

 confused me with my near kin the 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk— the idea 

 I am any amount larg-er than 

 Accipiter velox, if we are dressed 

 nearly alike — but then of course 

 we must not condemn Alexander 



because he made a little error like 

 that. It was early in the nine- 

 teenth century, throug-h the care- 

 ful observations of William 

 Cooper of New York, that we 

 were found to be a seperate 

 species from Accipiter velox, for 

 this reason we are destined to 

 carry the name. Cooper's Hawk, 

 to the g-rave. The accusation is 

 sometimes broug-ht ag-ainst me, 

 that I visit the poultry yard and 

 disturb the fowls, the farmers 

 have g"iven me the name Hen 

 Hawk. I do occasionally catch a 

 young- chicken, but they are only 

 little fellows that would eat their 

 heads off before they would be 

 larg^e enoug-h for the pot; hence I 

 plead not guilty of any criminal 

 offence. May the readers of this 

 magazine always speak a kind 

 word for me. 



Accipiter Cooperi. 



