fanner or poultry raisei- lau recount iustances of 

 where lie or sbe was the victim of pillage by this bold 

 and audacious robber. In the spring of 187.S llic 

 writer was presented by a friend with a Cooper's 

 Hawk which he had taught in a steel trap, but noi 

 until he and his mate had destroyed some fifty younj; 

 chickens. In (me dav these two hawks killed twelve 

 .•hi,-ken.s. 



A BOLD ACT. 



Audubon ."ays: -This maiaud. r .sometimes attacks birds fat 

 superior to itself in weight and sometimes possessed of a 

 courage and strength equal to its own. As I was one morning 

 ob.^erving the motions of some parakeets, near Bayou Sara. 

 Ill Louisiana, in the month of November. I heard a rock 

 crowing not far from me and in sight of a farm house. The 

 next moment the hawk flew past me and so close that I might 

 have touched it with the barrel of my gun had I been pre- 

 pared. Not more than a few seconds elapsed before I heard 

 the cackling of the hens and the war cry of the cock, and at 

 the same time observed the hawk rising, as if without ef- 

 fort, a few yards in the air and again falling toward the 

 grciund with the rapidity of lightning. I proceeded to the spot 

 and found the hawk grappled to the body of the cock both 

 tumbling over and over and paying no attention to me as 1 

 approached. Desirous of seeing the result. I remained still 

 until, perceiving that the hawk had given a fatal squeeze t.. 

 the brave cock, I ran to secure the former but the marauder 

 had kept a hawks eye upon me. and, disengaging himself 

 rose in the air in full confidence. The next nToment 1 milled 

 the trigger and he fell dead." 



A MIXED DIET. 



Dr. Coues (Bird.s of NorthwesO .says, in speaking of ihi.s 

 nawK: Possessed of spirit commensurate with its physical 

 powers. It preys upon game little if any humbler than that 

 of our more powerful falcons. It attacks and destroys 

 hares grouse, teal, and even the young of larger ducks, in 

 the state in which they are known as -flappers.' besides cap- 

 turing the usual variety of smaller birds and quadrupeds 

 It occasit)nally seizes upon reptiles or picks up insects. In 

 securing its prey it gives chase openly and drives down iti 

 quarry with almost incredible velocity." 



„''",'?''./°'l°,™'"^ quotations from Dr. Fisher's Hawk and Owl 

 Bulletin No. ?,. page .•!9. show how extensively the Coopers 

 Hawk feeds on game and domestic birds. Nuttall says: "His 

 rood appeals ijrincipally to be of various kinds- from the 

 sparrow to th? Ruffed Grouse, all contribute to his rapacious 



