FAMILY ButeonidcB 



magpie or squirrel and the natural cavities 

 in trees and cliffs. When it builds for itself 

 the nest is made of sticks with a lining of grass, 

 moss, leaves and bark, placed at all ele- 

 vations in conifers. 



333 Cooper hawk, Accipiter cooperi. 17.00 

 Distribution: Temperate North America 

 at large and southward. Wintering from 

 about latitude 40 south to southern Mexico. 



The Cooper hawk, chicken hawk, hen 

 hawk, or blue darter in colors and changes of 

 plumage is practically the same as the sharp- 

 shinned, differing only in size, averaging 

 about three inches longer. It is the common 

 "chicken hawk" of the United States, a 

 hawk of great audacity, preying on birds up 

 to the size of grouse and poultry. Once it 

 gets a taste of a farmer's chickens it will re- 

 turn again and again with the greatest 

 boldness and must be shot to stop its 

 depredations. 



Its medium size, long slender build and 

 swift flight will mark the Cooper hawk so 

 that its identification should be compara- 

 tively easy. The Cooper hawk builds its 

 nest in tall forest trees from twenty-five to 

 fifty feet from the ground. The nest is used 

 from year to year and becomes a large pile of 

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