BIRDS OF PREY. Hawks 



Cooper's Hawk : Accipiter cooperu 



Chicken Hawk. 



Length : 15-16 inches. 



Male and Female : Uniform bluish gray above, top of head blackish ; 

 tail crossed by several blackish bands ; below -white, with breast 

 and sides barred with dusky or rufous. This species resembles 

 the last, but is distinguishable by its greater size and rounded 

 tail. Feet rather stout, greenish yellow. 



Season : Common summer resident from March to December ; oc- 

 casionally winters. 



Breeds : Through range in April and May. 



Xest : In the tops of trees in thick woods, some authors say in ever- 

 greens ; those I have seen have been in hickories. 



Fggs : 3-4, bluish white, either plain or spotted with reddish. 



Bange : North America in general, south to southern Mexico. 



A mischievous harrier of all birds from barnyard fowls to 

 Song-birds, doing by craft what it cannot accomplish by 

 daring alone. 



A country woman, who is a very successful chicken-raiser, 

 tells me that she loses annually more chickens by this 

 Hawk than by weasels, rats, or disease, no matter how 

 carefully the broods are cooped. The Hawk takes up 

 his post on an old stump or tree in an adjoining wood 

 lot and gives a peculiar cry, which seems to lead the 

 chickens in its direction, and before the mother can give 

 a warning cluck one will be borne off. They will seize 

 rabbits, squirrels, and Partridges readily, but hesitate to 

 tackle a fully grown fowl, unless it is disabled in some way. 



The protective instinct of the mother Hen, when a Hawk 

 is in the vicinity, and the unquestioning obedience of the 

 brood, is one of the prettiest, though most ordinary, spring 

 scenes on the farm. The hen-coops are perhaps barrels, 

 laid on their sides with slatted ends, ranged along the road- 

 side fence opposite the farmhouse, so that an easy watch 

 may be kept upon them. The Hen ventures out, scratching 

 and clucking to the chicks as she goes ; they follow, strag- 

 gling more or less on private investigations. The sky is 



217 



