COOPER'S HAWK (Accipiter cooperi) MOURNING DOVE (Zenaidura macroura) 



Lengtii, about 15 inches. Medium sized, with 

 long tail and short wings, and without the 

 white patch on rump which is characteristic of 

 the marsh hawk. 



Range ; Breeds throughout most of the 

 United States and southern Canada ; winters 

 from the United vStates to Costa Rica. 



Habits and economic status : The Cooper's 

 hawk, or "blue darter." as it is familiarlj' 

 known throughout the South, is preeminently 

 a poultry and bird-eating species, and its de- 

 structiveness in this direction is surpassed only 

 bj' that of its larger congener, the goshawk, 

 which occasionally in autumn and winter enters 

 the United States from the North in great 

 numbers. The almost universal prejudice 

 against birds of prey is largely due to the ac- 

 tivities of these two birds, assisted by a third, 

 the sharp-shinned hawk, which in habits and 

 appearance might well pass for a small Coop- 

 er's hawk. These birds usually approach under 

 cover and drop upon unsuspecting victims, 

 making great inroads upon poultry yards and 

 game coverts favorably situated for this style 

 of hunting. Out of 123 stomachs examined, 38 

 contained the remains of poultry and game 

 birds, 66 the remains of other birds, and 12 the 

 remains of mammals. Twenty-eight species of 

 wild birds were identified in the above-men- 

 tioned material. This destructive hawk, to- 

 gether with its two near relatives, should be 

 destroyed by every possible means. 



Length, 12 inches. The dark spot on the 

 side of the neck distinguishes this bird from 

 all other native doves and pigeons except the 

 white-winged dove. The latter has the upper 

 third of wing white. 



Range : Breeds throughout the United States 

 and in Mexico, Guatemala, and southern Can- 

 ada ; winters from the central United States 

 to Panama. 



Habits and economic status : The food of 

 the mourning dove is practically all vegetable 

 matter (over 99 per cent), principally seeds of 

 plants, including grain. Wiieat, oats, rye, corn, 

 barley, and buckwheat were found in 150 out 

 of 237 stomachs, and constituted 32 per cent 

 of the food. Three-fourths of this was waste 

 grain picked up after harvest. The principal 

 and almost constant diet is weed seeds, which 

 are eaten throughout the year and constitute 

 64 per cent of the entire food. In one stomach 

 were found 7,500 seeds of yellow wood sorrel, 

 in another 6,400 seeds of barn grass or fox- 

 tail, and in a third 2,600 seeds of slender pas- 

 palum, 4,820 of orange hawkweed. 950 of 

 hoary vervain, 120 of Carolina cranesbill, 50 of 

 yellow wood sorrel, 620 of panic grass, and 40 

 of various other weeds. None of these are 

 useful, and most of them are troublesome 

 weeds. The dove does not eat insects or other 

 animal food. It should be protected in every 

 possible way. 



Pliotograpli liy Dr. C. William I'.itUf 



TiiK !).\^■I)^■ .\M()N"f. luuns 



The Mexican mot-mot is perhaps the nnly bird that mutilates its tail-feathers for pur- 

 poses of decoration after they are full-grown. .\ portion of tlie shafts is denuded by the 

 bird, leaving tiie web at tlie tips to form a conspicuous racket. 



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