BIRDS OF PREY 



{iiS) Accipiter cooperi 



(Boimp.) 



COOPER'S HAWK. This species 

 is almost the same as the last in all 

 respects save size, and large speci- 

 mens of the last may be as large as 

 small ones of the present bird. The 

 tail is rounded in all plumages; this 

 is a sure identification, and the crown 

 is also darker, being darker than the 

 back, while that of the last species 

 is the same color as the back. L., 

 i6. 00-20.00; W., g.oo-ii.oo; T., 

 7.00-9.00; Nest — Of sticks and 

 twigs in crotches of trees; old crow 

 or hawk nests are often used; the 

 three or four eggs are bluish-white. 



Range — Breeds from Quebec, Kee- 

 watin and southern B. C. south to 

 the southern border of the U. S. 

 Winters from Mass., Ind. and B. C. 

 southward. 



pay frequent \isits to poultry yards, with the result that a 

 young pullet is missing after nearly every visit. They do not 

 circle about in the air searching for prey, as larger hawks do, 

 but quietly and unobtrusively slip in and out along the edges 

 of woods until a hapless bird is sighted at close range; a sud- 

 den and swift dash ends with the little hawk the victor. 



Their nests are placed in crotches close to the main trunks 

 of woodland trees; often old crow nests are used. The eggs 

 of this species are regarded as among the most beautifully 

 marked of any of the Raptores — a bluish-white, very 

 boldly splashed with dark brown. 



COOPER'S HAWKS are, in plumage, nearly perfect 

 enlargements of the last species, but the crown is darker 

 than the back, and the end of the tail is always rounded, 

 while that of the last species is rather square-ended. In 

 their feeding habits, there is even more similarity between the 

 two species, for this is, like the Sharp-shinned species, exceed- 

 ingly destructive to valuable birds and poultry. Cooper's 

 Hawks probably use old crow nests oftener than they build 



