AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 49 



^nd fire. The hawk was flying fast and had made some 

 twenty yards more before I pressed the trigger ; she must 

 have been sixty yards from me, but a number five shot 

 took her right wing close to the body, and down she came 

 with the cry of distress peculiar to Cooper's hawk when 

 severely wounded: 'Chiteree! Chiteree! Chiteree!' Whop! 

 She struck the ground loud enough to be heard a hundred 

 yards." 



Such wealth of detail seems to indicate that the Doctor 

 derived more than the ordinary collector's pleasure from 

 the taking of specimens of this species. It might be in- 

 ferred too that he loved his pigeons. But it is now well 

 known that Cooper's hawk is really chargeable with most 

 of the pilfering of poultry yards usually blamed upon 

 the slow-flying, rodent-eating, broad-winged, red-shoul- 

 dered, and red-tailed hawks. 



"Common. Resident. Breeds. This hawk seems to 

 be the greatest enemy of domestic fowls. But above all 

 birds, he seems to prefer the tame pigeon. Two or three 

 times a week my pigeons have to fly for their lives. When 

 very hungry a Cooper's hawk will make repeated attempts 

 at capturing his quarry before he will desist. Several 

 years ago I fired both barrels of my gun at one of these 

 hawks while in pursuit of my pigeons. In less than thir- 

 ty minutes he returned and carried off a pigeon." (1890d.) 



No. 35. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 27, 1887. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 179. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 1, 1889. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 232. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 399. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 5, 1890. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 440. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 812. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 8, 1891. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 946. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1891. W. C. Avery. 

 No. 1020. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 3, 1893. W. C. Avery. 



67. BUTEO BOREALIS BOREALIS (Gmelin). 

 Red-tailed Hawk. 



It is interesting to find that Dr. Avery's first specimen 

 ■of this bird, taken Jan. 20, 1878, 10 miles west of Greens- 

 boro, was sent to Dr. Elliott Coues. 



This note, published in 1890, would indicate that the 

 Doctor paid little attention to Oology "Winter resident. 

 _Has never been found breeding here to my knowledge." 



