NORTH AM RRrCAN BIRDfl. 



203 



* * Acctpiter nisut. of Biirope. The cut well represents our Sbarp-sbinned, Cooper'sor Goshawk. 



irequently a scrubby oak or a birch offers a favorite site, and-,the height from the 

 ground may range from ten to sixty feet; the nests generally rest against the trunk 

 of the tree at the base of a limb. The composition of the nests are small sticks 

 forming a platform with a slight hollow, usually without lining. Occasionally nests 

 are placed in cavities similar to those of the Sparrow Hawk, or upon a ledge of rock 

 overhanging a lake or river. Mr. O. C. Poling informs me that in Western Illinois 

 this Hawk selects for [he s..e of its nest the top branches of an almost limbless tree, 

 usually an oak, which is situated in dense woods; it is generally composed of oak 

 twigs and leaves. Mr. Poling states that nesting begins by the middle of April; all 

 the nests he has observed contained five eggs, although others were found in that 

 region containing three and four. Mr. Charles F. Morrison, of Fort Lewis, Colorado, 



