98 COOPER'S HAWK. 



Ash-coloured or Black-capped Hawk, Falco atricapillus, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vi. p. 80. 



Falco palumbarius, Bonap. Syn., p. 28. 



American Goshawk, Falco atricapillus, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 85. 



Accipiter (Astur) palumbarius, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 39. 



Goshawk, Falco palumbarius, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 241. 



Adult male, dark bluish-grey above, the tail with four broad bands of 

 blackish-brown, the upper part of the head greyish-black; a white band, 

 with black lines, over the eyes; lower parts white, narrowly barred with 

 grey, and longitudinally streaked with dark brown. Young, brown above, 

 the feathers edged with reddish-white, the head and hind neck pale red, 

 streaked with blackish-brown, the lower parts yellowish-white, with oblong 

 longitudinal dark brown spots. 



Length 24 inches; extent of wings 47. **• 



COOPER'S HAWK. 



t - Astur Cooperi, Bonap. 



PLATE XXIV.— Male and Female. 



The flight of the Cooper's Hawk is rapid, protracted, and even. It is per- 

 formed at a short height above the ground or through the forest. It passes 

 along in a silent gliding manner, with a swiftness even superior to that of 

 the Wild Pigeon {Columba migratoria), seldom deviating from a straight- 

 forward course, unless to seize and secure its prey. Now and then, but 

 seldom unless after being shot at, it mounts in the air in circles, of which it 

 describes five or six in a hurried manner, and again plunging downwards, 

 continues its journey as before. 



The daring exploits performed by this Hawk, which have taken place in 

 my presence, are very numerous, and I shall relate one or two of them. 

 This marauder frequently attacks birds far superior to itself in weight, and 

 sometimes possessed of courage equal to its own. As I was one morning 

 observing the motions of some Parakeets near Bayou Sara, in the State of 

 Louisiana, in the month of November, I heard a Cock crowing not far from 

 me, and in sight of a farm-house. The Cooper's Hawk the next moment 

 flew past me, and so close that I might have touched it with the barrel of 

 my gun, had I been prepared. Its wings struck with extraordinary rapidity, 

 and its tail appeared as if closed. Not more than a few seconds elapsed 

 before I heard the cackling of the Hens, and the war-cry of the Cock, and at 



