169 



tive foe of this toothsome game bird. Hunters and 

 woodsmen have often told me that these "pheasant 

 hawks," referring to both the Cooper's and Sharp- 

 shinned, kill almost as many birds as the average 

 sportsman, and judging from the way in which a good 

 many sportsmen "shoot" when they are in the brush- 

 after the wily grouse it is very likely that this state- 

 ment is correct. The Cooper's Hawk feeds upon the 

 gray rabbit (common cotton-tail) and the mountain 

 jack or white rabbit (Varying Hare); squirrels are oc- 

 casionally killed and young wild turkeys also suffer 

 considerably from the attacks of this bird. Besides 

 destroying poultry and game of different kinds these 

 hawks annually kill great numbers of small wild birds 

 such as woodpeckers, sparrows, thrushes, etc. 



The Cooper's Hawk has been known to kill and feed 

 upon the following species of birds and mammals 

 which are present in this State: 



BIRDS. 



Ruffed Grouse, Meadow Lark, 



Quail, Screech Owl, 



Common Dove, Flicker, 



Goldfinch. Red-headed Woodpecker. 



Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, 



Shore-lark, Song Sparrow. 



Tree Sparrow, Crow Blackbird. 



Towhee, Snowbird, 



Red-winged Blackbiid, Field Sparrow. 



Wild Turkey, Savanna Sparrow, 



Wood Duck. Blue Bird, 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo, English Sparrow. 



MAMMALS. 



Opossum. Chipmunk, 



Gray Rabbit, Red Squirrel, 



Varying Hare, Common Rat. 



Field Mice, Woodchuck (young). 



The stomach contents of 4.S Cooper's Hawks ex- 

 amined by the writer gave the following result: 18, 

 cliickcTis ,inil plii'iisanls; 12. small birds — sparrows; 

 11* ir 



