BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 181 



considerably heavier than himself, and the tragedy transpired 

 too near me to leave a doubt as to the identity of the assassin. 

 His prowess has no equal amongst Raptorial birds, attacking 

 without an instant's hesitation, birds and animals far exceeding 

 its own weight.* I have seen them do the things whereof I 

 make these statements. Wilson's account of its encounter 

 with a squirrel, and the outcome, was by no means a solitary 

 instance, for it has been witnessed on occasions since he des- 

 cribed it. I shot one within half a mile of the beautiful Falls 

 of Minnehaha on the 14th of Septemoer, 1869, that had the 

 denuded head of a large squirrel hanging firmly to one side of 

 its neck by the incisors, one eye destroyed, and a large hole 

 torn out of the hawk's maw, of sufficient size to reveal its con- 

 tents of small birds partially digested, protruding. It must 

 have been an encounter of some weeks, or months, previous, 

 for the squirrel's skull had become perfectly bleached and pol- 

 ished, while the opening into the maw bore no signs of recent 

 inflammation. Mr. Washburn found it common in the Red River 

 valley, and along Thief river in August, while others report it 

 everywhere in migration. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Small tail rather long; legs and toes slender; entire upper 

 parts brownish-black, tinged with ashy; occiput mixed with 

 white; throat and under tail coverts white, the former with 

 lines of black on the shafts of the feathers; other under parts 

 fine light rufous, deepest on the tibia, with transverse bands 

 of white; shafts of feathers with lines of dark brown; tail ashy- 

 brown tipped with white, and with about four bands of brown- 

 ish-black; quills brownish-black, with bands of a darker shade, 

 and of white on their inner webs; secondaries and tertiaries 

 with large, partially concealed spots of white. 



Length (of female), 12 to 14; wing, 7.50 to 8; tail, 6.50 to 7. 



Habitat. North America. 



AOCIPITER COOPER! (Bonaparte.) (333.) 



COOPER'S HAWK. 



This is a very common species here, and is fairly distributed 

 over the openly timbered sections of the State. I have uni- 

 formly observed them early in April, and if any instance has 

 occurred of an arrival in March I have not been apprised of it. 



* I once saw one of these hawks dash into a flock of wild pigeons, and strike a very- 

 large, old bird, fifty per cent heavier than itself. It was done when the assailant was 

 moving with its highest velocity, and with such deadly certainty that the stroke in- 

 stantly killed the pigeon, for the head and wings all dropped, and I as speedily dropped 

 the hawk, pigeon and all, by a well-directed shot. Incredible though it seen.s to me 

 now, the keen, long, curved talons had pierced to its vitals. 



