268 



MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



and abundantly in most sections, placing the nest in almost any kind of 

 tree and at heights varying from a dozen feet to nearly one hundred. The 

 nest is commonly composed of sticks of various sizes, and lined with twigs 

 and scale-like pieces of bark. Rarely does the nest contain any soft lining, 

 although tufts of down from the old bird are often found clinging to the nest 

 and when visible from below are often taken as proof that the nest is injise. 



The period of incubation is about twenty-four days, and only a single 

 brood is reared in a season. The eggs vary from two to six and are com- 

 monly bluish white or greenish white and unspotted, but occasionally 

 some or all the eggs of a set are distinctly though faintly marked with 

 spots of brown or gray. They average 1.93 by 1.50 inches, and may be 

 laid at any time from late April to mid June, though most frequently in 

 May. 



This is the common "chicken hawk" of the farmers, and probably is 

 responsible for most of the loss of small chickens. The bird has a habit 

 of dashing suddenly among the poultry, picking up a small chicken in its 

 claws, and carrying it away so quickly that it is 

 commonly impossible to kill the robber. It is 

 very likely to return the same day or the next and 

 to repeat its visits indefinitely until killed. It also 

 eats large numbers of wild birds, including some 

 quail, young partridges and young waterfowl, and 

 although it does some good by eating an occasional 

 mouse or squirrel, it is nevertheless on the whole 

 a decidedly injurious species. Out of 94 stomachs 

 reported on by Dr. Fisher, 34 contained poultry 

 or game birds; 52, other birds; 11, mammals; one, 

 a frog; three, lizards; and two, insects. 



Under the present Michigan law this species 

 and the Sharp-shin are the only hawks which may 

 be killed legally at any time; and the law seems 

 to be a wise one, most of our other hawks being 

 highly beneficial, and the few which form exceptions 

 (as the Goshawk and Duck Hawk) being so rare 

 as to be of no importance. 



Unlike the buzzard hawks the Cooper's and 

 Sharp-shin seldom wheel aloft on the lookout for 

 food, but fly swiftly and silently from place to place, 

 flapping the wings rapidly for a few seconds and 



then gliding noiselessly, always alert and watch- Left leg and %ot of Cooper's 

 ful, and ever read}'' to drop like an arrow on some Hawk. (Original.) 



unsuspecting victim. Sometimes they alight for a few moments on the top 

 of a dead tree, or on some other commanding perch, sitting quite stiff and 

 upright, but soon taking wing again. They are among our most restless 

 and active hawks, apparently endowed with a surplus of strength and 

 energy and never content except when in action. 



Fig. 71. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult male: Top of head blackish or clear black, in strong contrast with the slate 

 blue of the rest of the upper parts; feathers of occiput and nape pure white below the 

 surface, the white showing when the feathers are ruffled; under parts white or nearly so, 

 the cliin and throat lightly streaked, the breast, belly and sides heavily barred, with red- 

 dish brown; primaries blackish on outer webs, the inner webs with broad and scanty 

 bars of dusky and white; tail rounded, similar in color to back, and with four or five broad 



