cooper's hawk. 39 



of one of tliese Hawks wliicli made daily visits to a coox^ contaiuing a 

 late brood of Wyandotte chickens, and undoubtedly would have taken 

 all but for its timely death by the gun. The following- quotations show 

 how extensively it feeds on game and domesticated birds. Nuttall 

 says : 



"His food appears principally to be birds of various kinds; from the 

 sparrow to the Ruffed Grouse, all contribute to his rapacious appetite. 

 * * * His depredations among the domestic fowls are very destruc- 

 tive." (Land Birds, 1832, p. 90.) 



Dr. Cones says : " It attacks and destroys hares, grouse, teal, and even 

 the young of larger ducks, * * * besides capturing the usual vari- 

 ety of smaller birds and quadrui)eds. It occasionally seizes upon rep- 

 tiles or picks uj) insects." (Birds of Northwest, p. 338.) 



Mr. H, ISTehrling says: "This very common and impudent robber is 

 the most destructive of the Raptores to the barnyard fowls; in a short 

 time all the young chickens, turkeys, and ducks are killed by it." 

 (Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. vii, 1882, p. 174.) 



Mr. Thomas Mcllwraith says: "This is one of the chicken hawks, 

 and it well deserves the imme, from the havoc it makes among the 

 poultry." (Birds of Ontario, p. 137.) 



Mr. Henshaw informs me that the Cooper's Hawk is very partial to 

 quail's flesh in California and the southern territories, and that it un- 

 doubtedly secures many victims. He once saw a young female dart 

 into a bevy of Gambel's quail and seize one with the utmost ease, 

 though the birds were flying at full speed. In an instant the flock 

 scattered in every direction and sought refuge in the bushes, from 

 which it proved next to impossible to dislodge them. They had recog- 

 nized their enemy and evidently knew that their only chance for safety 

 lay in close hiding. 



The following examination, made by Dr. B. H. Warren, gives a very 

 good summary of this Hawk's food: "Of the thirty-four birds which I 

 have examined, sixteen showed the food taken to have been chickens; 

 ten revealed small birds — si^arrows, warblers, and meadow-larks; two, 

 quail; one, bull-frogs; three, mice and insects; two, hair and other re- 

 mains of small quadrupeds." (Birds of Pennsylvania, 1888, p. 80.) 



This species is preeminently a 'Chicken Hawk," as may be seen from 

 the foregoing citations. Its devastations in this direction are much 

 greater than those of all the other hawks and owls together, with the 

 possible exception of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, which attacks much 

 smaller chickens. 



Like the Sharp- shinned Hawk this species has learned that the Eng- 

 lish sparrow is not only an acceptable article of food but is also a read- 

 ily accessible one. Consequently of late years it has been much more 

 common during the winter months in the larger parks of cities, where 

 it spreads terror among the sparrows. 



