HA WKS. 



307 



seize as they pass, more commonly especially in the case of small birds chasing 

 and seizing them while on the wing, and then retiring to some neighboring dead tree, 

 or more secluded spot, to dispose of their game. 



They nest in tall trees and lay from three to six eggs, those of Cooper's hawk 

 being usually bluish-white and unspotted; those of the sharp-shinned nearly white, 

 heavily blotched and spotted with dark brown. 



FIG. 144. Accipiter nisus, sparrow-hawk. 



As already remarked, the species of this genus are quite numerous and found in 

 almost every part of the world. Their habits seem to be essentially the same every- 

 where, and while the tints of their plumage are seldom striking and never brilliant, 

 black, white, slaty blues and red-browns being the commonest, yet the pattern of 

 coloration always gives a pleasing effect. In size there is no great variation, Cooper's 

 hawk, with a length of less than eighteen inches, being among the largest, while the 

 smallest is probably A. tinus of South America, large specimens of which do not 

 exceed a foot in length, while small males measure only about nine inches. 



