138 SHARF-SHINNED HAWK 



When either a Cooper's or a Sharp-shinned Hawk 

 finds a poultry yard easy of access he generally con- 

 tinues his visits until all the chickens are gone or he 

 is killed. On one farm sixty chickens were taken and 

 a large number of useful Hawks were unfortunately 

 shot before the thief — a Cooper's — was discovered. 



Notice the size of the different Hawks. Cooper's 

 is sixteen inches long, the same as the Broad-winged, 

 and the Sharp-shinned is eleven inches, about the 

 same as the useful little Sparrow Hawk. The other 

 good species, the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered, are 

 larger, the former being a foot and a half and the 

 latter two feet long. 



Sharp-shinned Hawk: Accipitcr irlox. 



Length i ( inches. 



Upper parts slaty-gray, with a few white spots; tail Hghter, 

 with dark band and tipped with whitish. 



Under parts white, barred with light brown, the throat 

 with dark streaks. The young are dark brown and rnsty 

 above, and streaked instead of barred beneath. 



Resident (common) all the year. 



The food of the Sharp-shinned consists almost en- 

 tirely of young poultry and small birds, and Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher of the Biological Survey, the authority on 

 Hawks and Owls, says there is little in its favor ex- 

 cept its fondness for the English Sparrow, and that 

 it " is gradually learning that there is a never-failing 

 supply of food for it in the larger towns and cities." 

 He has seen it chasing Sparrows in the Washington 

 parks. 



The Shaip-shinned nests later than other Hawks 

 and usually builds in a thick evergreen tree about 

 twenty feet from the ground. The eggs, 4 to 5, are 

 heavily spotted and blotched. 



