COOPER'S HAWK (Accipiter cooperi) MOURNING DOVE (Zenaidura macroura) 



Lfiis^lli, almiit 75 inches, ^ilcdium sized, with 

 long- tail and slmrt wino-s. and without the 

 white patch on rump which is characteristic of 

 the marsh hawk. 



Range: Breeds througliout most of the 

 United States and southern Canada ; winters 

 from the United States to Costa Rica. 



Hahits and economic status: The Cooper's 

 hawk, or "lilue darter," as it is familiarly 

 known throug'hout the South, is preeminently 

 a p:inltry and hird-eating species, and its de- 

 structiveness in tliis direction is surpassed only 

 by that of its larger congener, the goshawk, 

 which occasionally in autumn and winter enters 

 the United States from the North in great 

 nnmhers. The almost uni\ersal prejudice 

 against birds of prey is largely due to the ac- 

 ti\'ities of these two birds, assisted by a third, 

 the sharp-shinned hawk, which in habits and 

 appearance might well pass for a small Coop- 

 er's hawk. These Ijirds usually approach under 

 co\er and drop upon unsuspecting" victims, 

 making great inroads upon poultry yards and 

 game coverts favorably situated for this style 

 of hunting. Out of 123 stomachs examined, ,38 

 contained the remains of poultry and game 

 birds, 66 the remains of other birds, and 12 the 

 remains of mammals. Twenty-eight species of 

 wild birds were identified in the abo\e-men- 

 tioned material. This destructi\'e hawk, to- 

 gether with its two near relatives, should be 

 destroyed by e\'er_\- piissiblc means. 



Length, ij inches. The dark spot on the 

 side of the neck distinguishes this bird from 

 all other n;iti\"e dn\-es and pigeons except the 

 white-winged dove. The latter has the upper 

 third of wing white. 



Range: Breeds throughout the United States 

 ,'md in ilexico, Guatemala, and southern Can- 

 ada : winters from the central United States 

 to Panama. 



Haliits and economic status : The food of 

 the mourning do\"e is practically all vegetable 

 matter (over 99 per cent), principally seeds of 

 plants, including grain. Wiieat, oats, rye, corn, 

 barley, and buckwheat were found in i.^o out 

 of 237 stomachs, ;md constituted ^2 per cent 

 of the food. Three- fourths of this was waste 

 grain picked up after harvest. The principal 

 and almost constant diet is weed seeds, which 

 are eaten throughout the 3'ear and constitute 

 64 per cent of the entire food. In one stomach 

 were found 7.500 seeds of yellow wood sorrel, 

 in .'mother 6,400 seeds of barn grass or fox- 

 tail, and in a third 2,600 seeds of slender pas- 

 paluni, 4.S20 of orange hawkweed. 950 of 

 hoary \-er\-ain, 120 of Carolina cranesbill, 50 of 

 j-ellow wood sorrel, 620 of panic grass, and 40 

 of various other weeds. None of these arc 

 useful, and most of them are troublesome 

 weeds. The drn'e di>es not eat insects or other 

 animal food. It should be protected in every 

 pi issible way. 



Photograph by Dr. C. \\'il1mm V.ijehe 

 THE D.\NDY AMONG BIRDS 



The Mexican mot-mot is perhaps the onl\- bird that mutilates its tail-feathers for pur- 

 poses of decoration after they are full-grown. A jiortion of the shafts is denuded by the 

 hird, lea\'ing the web at the tifis to form a C(.inspicuous racket. 



