THE OOLOGIST 



29 



were considered very desirable, among 

 the coterie of younger collectors who 

 were then just beginners. 



He had a very fine set of five Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk taken near by, which 

 the writer was fortunate enough to 

 acquire. He also secured the first set 

 of Broad-winged Hawks recorded in 

 this county and which at that time 

 was really quite rare, compared with 

 the present. The eggs of the Turkey 

 Buj.-zard at that time were also consid- 

 ered great prizes and he took probab- 

 ly the first set in Chester County as 

 well as those of the Whip-poor-will 

 and Ruffed Grouse. Mr. Mattack was 

 a man of abundant leisure and dur- 

 ing the collecting season devoted much 

 of the time to his hobby, much to the 

 envy of some of the younger members 

 of the fraternity, myself among them 

 who only had a day off now and then. 

 He retained most of his collection to 

 the time of his death but it now prob- 

 ably will be disposed of at an early 

 date. 



Thomas H. Jackson. 



Cooper's Hawk. 

 (Accipiter Cooperii) 



This Hawk is called common by 

 very many and no doubt is in other 

 localities but here the Red shouldered 

 easily beats it. A description of the 

 bird itself is unnecessary and the only 

 excuse for these notes is that my ex- 

 perience has been different from some 

 others I have read in regard to its 

 nesting and eggs. 



This Hawk was named by Bonaparte 

 in his American Ornithology (1828) 

 Cooper's Hawk, and by Audubon in 

 his Orn. Bioy. (1831) Stanley Hawk. 

 The name given it by Bonaparte 

 stands today and I think few outside 

 the very scientific world know what 

 a Stanley Hawk was. 



I believe it to be the very greatest 

 bird destroyers in this locality and am 



glad it is no commoner. The young, 

 however, make fine subjects to photo 

 on account of their contrasty color. 

 Too many farmers call all Hawks Hen 

 Hawks, but this one seems to be 

 known to them and is hated by all 

 who raise chickens, etc., and a pair of 

 Cooper's Hawks in his neighborhood 

 causes a farmer more worry than his 

 money, for once they get a chicken 

 from his yard, they will return for 

 more every time. Like the claim of 

 many medicines they are the "only 

 original and genuine," — in this case 

 poultry and game destroyers. 



A few years ago on the Wayland 

 Meadows, I saw a Cooper's Hawk dash 

 after a Hen Pheasant. The Pheasant 

 hit it up pretty well but was soon 

 overtaken but in the mixup the Hawk 

 must have missed a hold on the Pheas- 

 ant's back and caught her head, for I 

 saw her drop and ran to where she 

 fell and found that her head had been 

 torn off. 



One morning in early May I was 

 trying to open up a Hairy Woodpeck- 

 er hole in a big Maple tree that wasn't 

 very dead with a key hole saw that 

 wouldn't cut. I had a regular monkey 

 hold on the tree and was perspirins 

 freely. High up in the top of the tree 

 eating the buds was a red squirrel. 

 He chatted to rae while he ate and I 

 cussed at him while I tried to saw. 

 Suddenly a Cooper's Hawk brushed 

 across the top of the tree and took the 

 red squirrel with him and I thought 

 to myself — those that laugh last, etc. 



The ideal place to look for this 

 Hawk's nest here and where ninety 

 per cent are found (in 1894 found my 

 first one) is in a tall pine or cedar that 

 stands in good big woods. Some nest^ 

 have been only twenty feet up but 

 more forty to sixty. Now in Maine, a 

 very fine writer. Prof. Knight, states 

 that an old Crow's nest or other large 

 bird's nest is used but here a nice, 



