104 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



430. Marsh Hawk — circus hudsonius. Greenish-white, either im- 

 maculate or faintly spotted with pale brown or lilac, rather oval in shape; 

 three to six in number, often four or five, and measure from 1.80 to 1.90 

 in length by 1.38 to 1.45 in breadth. The Marsh Hawk, Blue Hawk or 

 Harrier is distributed throughout the whole of North America. It is one 

 of the- most abundant and widely diffused of our birds and breeds from the 

 fur country of Hudson's Bay to Texas, and from Nova Scotia to Oregon 

 and California. It is found especially in swamp prairies or marshy places; 

 here the nest may be found, placed on the ground, which is only a collec- 

 tion of twigs and hay, but from three to six inches in height and a foot or 

 more in diameter. The eggs are sometimes laid on a bed of green moss, 

 with the material arranged in a circular form. The bird may often be seen 

 during the spring and summer months sweeping slowly over meadows and 

 bottom lands in pursuit of mice, birds and large insects. It can readily 

 be recognized by the entirely pure white upper tail-coverts, the male above 

 bluish-ash, whitening below; the female above dark umber-brown. 



Hab. North America. 



431. Cooper's Hawk — accipiter cooperi. Pale bluish or greenish- 

 white, usually spotted with pale reddish-brown ; the eggs resemble those 

 of the Marsh Hawk so closely as to be not certainly distinguishable ; three, 

 four or five in number and measure from 1.55 to 1.60 broad to 1.80 by 

 2.10 long. Cooper's Hawk, or the Chicken Hawk, is distributed through- 

 out temperate North America at large as a summer resident. The nest of 

 this chicken thief is usually placed in high trees ; the birds generally build 

 it themselves, but quite frequently a Crow's nest is fitted up, or the nest 

 of some other Hawk sometimes is made to answer the purpose. The two 

 birds of this genus — A. cooperi and A. fiisais, are perhaps the boldest dep- 

 redators of the family. They do not hesitate to attack chickens in the 

 presence of their owners; they also feed largely upon small quadrupeds, 

 weasles, squirrels and young rabbits ; snakes and reptiles are among their 



victims. Hab. Temperate North America and Southward. 



432. Sharp-shinned Hawk — accipiter fuscus. Bluish-white, coarsely 

 spotted and blotched with chestnut and umber of varying shades, spheri- 

 cal in shape ; the eggs are so variable in color that it is difficult to give a 

 concise description ; four or five ; of nearly equal size at both ends and 

 measure about 1.50 by 1. 18. This is one of the most abundant of hawks 

 and is distributed at large throughout North America. It is also known 

 by the name of "Pigeon" Hawk, but should not be confounded with 

 JEsalon colunibariiis. The Sharp-shinned is one of the most dashing and 

 daring of the family, frequently and successfully attacking birds of its own 



