ACCIPITER COOPERI, COOPER's HAWK. 337 



house, with eager cries, (,'atching sight of strangers, they veered off 

 at the hist moment, and, with a graceful upward curve, settled in a tall 

 Cottonwood overhead. There they stood, peering with outstretched 

 necks down through the foliage, eager, curious, yet distrustful, and 

 occasionally uttering a whining note. Bill explained that they were 

 afraid of us, but said he 'reckoned he'd fetch 'em down,' and entered 

 the house for his rifle. I was surprised, for I thought he was going to 

 kill one; but my companion called to my mind that Bill was still in the 

 habit of shooting small birds lor them to eat, as he had done when they 

 were quite young. The birds redoubled their clamor as their owner 

 reappeared, gun in hand, and leaped lower down among the branches. 

 He stepped forward a few paces, and then, appetite overcoming their 

 mistrust, they sailed down, and flapped about over his head as he 

 walked toward the bushes. Crack ! ping ! He knocked the head off an 

 unlucky Sparrow, picked it up, held it out in his hand, and made a 

 queer, chuckling noise, like a hen clucking to her chickens. The boldest 

 settled lightly on his shoulder, theu slid down his arm, seized the bird, 

 and flew off', with the other two in full pursuit. This was the first time 

 1 ever saw a Hawk at liberty come at a call, and take food from its 

 master's hands. It was worth the ride." 



These three birds had been taken when very young from their nest 

 in the crotch of a cottonwood over the cabin, reared in captivity until 

 well grown, and then allowed their liberty, with the above gratifying- 

 result. Both the parents had been shot. The nest, which was pointed 

 out to me, looked, from where I stood, like a Crow's. I did not venture 

 on a perilous climb to examine it more closely. Such is the situation 

 generally chosen. Audubon describes the nest as composed externally 

 of numerous crooked sticks, and lined with grasses and a few feathers. 

 Dr. Brewer mentions two, both lined with pieces of bark ; one of them 

 was between one and a half and two feet broad, the external layer of 

 sticks hardly an inch thick, " with only a slight depression in the centre, 

 hardly enough to keep the eggs from rolling out." The eggs I have ex- 

 amined measured from 1.80 by 1.55 to 2.10 by 1.60 — figures showing the 

 variation both in size and shape — they average about 1.90 by 1.50. 

 They resemble those of the Marsh Hawk so closely as to be not cer- 

 tainly distinguishable, but they are usually more globular, and with a 

 more granulated shell. The greatest diameter is at or very near the 

 middle ; difference in shape of the two ends is rarely appreciable. All 

 were more uniform in color than those of most Hawks, resembling the 

 l)ale, scarcely marked examples occasionally laid by most kinds of 

 Hawks; none were conspicuously dark-uuirked. The ground is white, 

 faintly tinted with livid or green ish -gray ; if marked, it is with faint, 

 sometimes almost obsolete, blotches of drab, liable to be overlooked 

 without close insi)ection ; only an occasional specinuMi is found with 

 decided, though still dull and sparse, nuirkings of i)ale brown. Three 

 or four eggs are the usual nest-comi)lement ; in the Northern and IMiddle 

 States they are laid in ^lay. Mr. Samuels speaks of a pair that nested 

 near Newton, Massachusetts, an<l were robbed of their eggs four times 

 in succession. "They built different nests in the same grove, and laid 

 in the four litters four, four, live, and three eggs, resi»ectively. The 

 eggs of the last litter were very small, but little larger than those of 

 the Sharp-sliinncd Hawk." 



The lange of Cooper's Hawk is, in a measure, complementary to that 



of the (loshiiwk ; not tiiat the two are never found together, for such is 



the case in all our Northern States ; but one is as ilrcidcdly southern as 



the other is northerly. The present species does not appear to peue- 



22 • I 



