132 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



he considers it rare in that vicinity. Golsan reports it fairly 

 ■common at Autaugaville, where one was taken December 11, 



1911. Graves reports it a common breeder on Sand Mountain. 

 I saw one at Orange Beach, January 24, and one at Florence, 

 May 4, 1912. Holt took a specimen at Jackson, February 23, 



1912, and Peters saw two birds near Ardell in June, 1914. 

 General habits. — This little hawk is well known under the 



names of "bullet hawk" or "little blue darter." It is a swift 

 flyer and full of dash and courage, often attacking birds as 

 large as itself, such as the quail, mourning dove, flicker, purple 

 grackle, and robin. It feeds extensively also on such smaller 

 birds as the various native sparrows, warblers, wrens, and 

 thrushes. As the little hawk flies along the hedgerows or 

 darts into a thicket or brier patch in pursuit of its victim, con- 

 -sternation reigns among the smaller birds, who well know the 

 danger from this bold and persistent hunter. Nuttall tells of 

 seeing, near Tuscaloosa, "a pair of these birds furiously attack 

 the large red-tailed hawk, squalling very loudly, and striking 

 him on the head until they had entirely chased him out of 

 sight."* 



The nest of this hawk is rather bulky, placed in trees, usual- 

 ly evergreens, 15 to 40 feet from the ground. 



Food habits. — This is one of the few injurious species of 

 hawk. It feeds mainly upon small birds and young chickens 

 and occasionally captures mice, grasshoppers, or small rep- 

 tiles. Dr. Fisher identified 46 birds in the stomachs of this 

 species; of 150 stomachs examined, 6 contained poultry or 

 game birds ; 99, other birds ; 6, mice ; 5, insects ; and 52 were 

 empty. 



COOPER HAWK ; BIG BLUE DARTER : Accipiter cooperii 



(Bonaparte) . 



State records. — The Cooper hawk is generally distributed 

 over the State and is rather more common than the sharp-shin, 

 though nowhere abundant. It is recorded breeding at Leigh- 

 ton, Greensboro, Autaugaville, and Sand Mountain, and has 

 been observed, also, at Hayneville and Teasley Mill, Mont- 



•Nuttall, Thos., Manual ornith., land birds, p. 89, 1832. 



