COOPER'S HAWK. 351 



and thickly padded; 3d, that the fourth primary is longest, 

 the "second shorter than the sixth," and the first noticeably 

 short; 4th, the soft and finely blended character of the 

 colors above, in maturity being a fine ashy-brown, black- 

 ish on the head. The under parts of both birds are white, 

 with fine cross-streaks of light-reddish. They bear about 

 the same relation to each other as that of the Hairy to the 

 Downy Woodpecker. Cooper's Hawk is especially a bird 

 of the United States, most common in the Northern States, 

 and extending but slightly into the British Provinces. The 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk is sometimes found here in winter, 

 but Cooper's Hawk goes farther south. Early in May is 

 the time for the nidification of the latter in this locality. 

 The nest, in the crotch of a tall tree, or where several limbs 

 join the trunk, always very high, is built of sticks and lined 

 with dry grass, or strips of bark, sometimes containing 

 feathers, the depression being but slight. The eggs, 3 or 4, 

 sometimes 5, about 1.90 x 1-50, are white, greenish or 

 grayish tinged, often clear, sometimes slightly blotched 

 with dark drab or brown. Mr. Samuels mentions a pair 

 r.obbed of their eggs four- times in the same season. " They 

 built different nests in the same grove, and laid in the four 

 litters, four, five, and three eggs, respectively. The eggs 

 of the last litter were very small, but little larger than 

 those of the Sharp-shinned Hawk." 



The ordinary flight of this bird is rapid and straight- 

 forward, the regular strokes of the wings being frequently 

 relieved by sailing. In the mating season, when it is very 

 noisy, having a note which sounds like ehce-e-e-ah, I have 

 seen it, high in air, above the tops of the tallest trees, shoot- 

 ing toward one of its kind whose vofce it heard in the dis- 

 tance, with half-closed and perfectly motionless wings, and 

 with a rocket-like speed and a gracefulness which no 



