90 BIRDS OF PREY. 



COOPER'S HAWK. 



(Falco Cooperii, Bonap. Am. Orn. ii. pi. 10. fig. 1. [young], Phila- 

 delphia Museum, No. 403.) 



Spec. Charact. — Tail rounded, with 4 blackish bands, and tipped 

 with white ; wings extending, when folded, to the 2d band ; 

 2d quill nearly equal in length to the 6th, and the 3d to the 

 5th. Length 18 or more inches. — Young, dusky-brown, skirted 

 with ferruginous ; beneath white, with oblanceolate, dusky brown 

 spots. 



This fine species of Hawk is found in considerable 

 numbers in the Middle States, particularly New York 

 and New Jersey, in the autumn, and at the approach of 

 winter. His food appears principally to be birds of vari- 

 ous kinds ; from the Sparrow to the Ruffed Grous, all 

 contribute to his rapacious appetite. I have also seen 

 this species as far south as the capital of Alabama, and in 

 common with the preceding, his depredations among the 

 domestic fowls are very destructive. Mr. Cooper in- 

 forms me that the plumage of the adult male bears the 

 same analogy to the adult of JP. fuscus, as the young 

 of that species does to the present, excepting that the 

 rufous tints are paler. The difference in size between 

 the two is as 2, or even 3, to 1. 



The length of this species is about 18 inches ; and nearly 30 in 

 alar extent. The general color of the young bird above is chocolate- 

 brown, and the head and neck blackish, edged with rufous and 

 white. The body beneath is white, the feathers being marked each 

 with a long, dusky stripe down the shafts, which spots become broader 

 and oblanceolate on the breast and flanks. The vent and lower tail 

 coverts white. The wings about 9 inches long, and when folded, 

 scarcely extend to the 2d bar of the tail ; the quills crossed by black- 

 ish bands. 1st primary very short, more so than the secondaries ; 

 2d equal to the Gth, and the 3d to the 5th, the 2 last being scarcely 

 shorter than the 4th, which, as in all the birds of this section, is the 

 longest. Tail 8 inches, extending 5 beyond the wings, ashy brown, 



