144 LAND BIRDS 
Young: Upper parts dark brown ; under parts streaked, not barred. 
Downy Young: Uniform pure white. 
Geographical Distribution: The entire United States and southern British 
Provinces, south in winter to Mexico. 
Breeding Range: Throughout California. 
Breeding Season: April and May. 
Nest: Usually in high trees ; often a remodelled crow’s nest. 
Eggs: 4 or 5; pale greenish white, plain or dimly marked with light 
brown. Size 1.97 X 1.42. 
Like the sharp-shinned, the Cooper Hawk is the bane 
alike of the farmer and the bird-lover. He is known 
throughout the United States by the name of Chicken 
Hawk, and so daring is he that he will come down into 
the farmyard for poultry in the face of the farmer. 
There are several records of weasels that have been 
seized by this hawk, sucking its blood at the throat and 
causing its death. One skeleton specimen was found 
with the teeth of the weasel so locked in the bone of the 
hawk that it could not be removed. But unfortunately, 
although chickens, weasels, snakes, lizards, and small 
quadrupeds are doubtless upon his bill of fare, song birds 
are too often his victims, and the ornithologist who is 
patiently studying the development of some rare brood 
has good cause to dislike him. 
The nest of the Cooper Hawk is placed in tall trees, 
and being added to and occupied year after year, it be- 
comes an exceedingly bulky structure. April to May is 
the usual date, in California, at which nesting begins, 
and incubation lasts thirty-one days. The young remain 
in the nest six to eight weeks, and are fed upon the 
small live mammals, never upon dead flesh. Small won- 
der they learn to pounce upon and tear anything that 
moves in the grass or among the trees. 
