CJOOPPIR'S HAWK 119 



shooting up the road past lue, four feet above the road and going at great 

 velocity. A Kennicott ground squirrel that no doubt had been attracted to the 

 road by spilled oats, tried to cross the road only to be struck amid a cloud of 

 dust. After striking the squirrel the hawk went on for six feet more before 

 it could turn. Meanwhile the squirrel was stretched out in the road lifeless. 

 The hawk came back and attempted to carry off its booty. But I dashed up 

 at a gallop, and as the prey was too heavy to carry off quickly, the hawk had 

 to drop it. I picked it up and found that only one claw had pierced the skin, 

 and only a drop or two of blood had come out. So I believe that the squirrel 

 was killed by the force of the blow itself. 



The following remarkable performance is described by William 

 Savage (1900) : 



I was standing in a thick brush at the time, when suddenly I heard a loud 

 rushing of wings, rather behind me, and, on looking around, saw a quail flying 

 past at its utmost powers of flight and about twenty feet behind was a Ck)oper's 

 Hawk, but pursuing with such rapidity that I could plainly see it was gaining 

 on the quail. I discovered in a moment that the quail was endeavoring to 

 reach a clump of hazel bushes nearby, though apparently intending to pass 

 them, but when about six feet above and directly over the desired covert, it 

 suddenly dropped like a dead bird for the refuge. The hawk, however, was not 

 to be eluded by this bit of strategy, for with an extra effort, it shot beneath 

 its prey, at the same time turning with its back next the ground and spreading 

 its murderous claws wide open, the quail actually falling into them ; then 

 righting up, sailed away with its prize. This I think was done in about ten 

 seconds. 



But the hawk is not always successful in capturing its prey ; some- 

 times it meets more than its match ; and sometimes it may attack for 

 the mere sport of it. At least two observers have noted its fruitless 

 attempts to capture a kingfisher in flight over water. As the hawk 

 gained on the slower bird, the latter, at the most critical moment, 

 suddenly dove into the water and the hawk's momentum carried it 

 far beyond. As the kingfisher rose the hawk returned to the attack, 

 with the same result, which was repeated six or eight times. After 

 the last fruitless attempt the hawk gave it up, the kingfisher, as 

 Charles E. Johnson (1925) says, "alighting on a perch at the water's 

 edge, with bristling crest and many a hitch and jerk, as if to reas- 

 sure itself of its own personal solidarity, burst forth in a rattle, loud 

 and ringing with triumph if not actually vibrant with inexpressible 

 scorn." 



Charles W. Michael (1921) relates the following incident: 



Looking up we saw the two rather large birds dashing through the treetops. 

 The dark bird with the white wing-patches we recognized at once as a Pileated 

 [woodpecker] ; the lighter colored bird turned out to be a Cooper Hawk. A 

 pursuit was apparently in progress, but as the birds dashed through the 

 branches of the tall trees it was impossible to be sure which of the birds was 

 the pursuer and which the pursued. Both birds quickly left our range of 

 vision, but a little farther on we heard gentle tappings and soon located the 

 woodpecker. The hawk was there too, perched on a limb a few feet away. 



