Kites, Hawks, Eagles, etc. 



Unhappily, the sharp-shinned hawk is one of the most 

 abundant species we have. Doubtless because it is small and 

 looks inoffensive enough, as it soars in narrow circles overhead, 

 its worse than useless life is often spared. 



Cac, cac, cac, very much like one of the flicker's calls, is 

 this hawk's love song apparently, for it seldom, if ever, lifts its 

 voice, except at the nesting season. Now it seeks the woods to 

 make a fairly well constructed nest of twigs, lined with smaller 

 ones, or strips of bark, with the help of its larger mate, from fif- 

 teen to forty feet from the ground. Strangely enough, the nest 

 is not a common find, however abundant the bird, neither 

 Nuttall nor Wilson having discovered one in all their tireless wan- 

 derings. Dense evergreens, the favorite nesting localities, con- 

 ceal the nest, large as it is — much too large for so small a bird, 

 one would think. A pair of these hawks may sometimes repair 

 their last season's home, but will never appropriate an old tene- 

 ment belonging to others, as many hawks do. Late in May, 

 or even so late as June, from three to six bluish or greenish 

 white eggs, heavily blotched or washed with cinnamon red or 

 chocolate brown, keep both parents busy incubating and, later, 

 feeding a hungry family. Climb up to the nursery, and angry, 

 fearless birds dash and strike at an intruder as if he were no 

 larger than a goldfinch. 



Cooper's Hawk 



( Accipiter CooperiJ 



Called a/so: CHICKEN HAWK; BIG BLUE DARTER. 



Length — Male 15.50 inches; female 19 inches. 



Male, Female and Young — To be distinguished from the sharp- 

 shinned species only by their larger size, darker, blackish 

 crowns, and rounded, instead of square, tails. 



Range — Temperate North America, nesting throughout its United 

 States range; some birds wintering in Mexico and the 

 southern states. 



Season — Permanent resident except at northern limits of range, 

 where it is a summer or transient visitor. 



Like the sharp-shinned hawk in habits as in plumage, this, 

 its larger double, lives by devouring birds of so much greater 



3'4 



