COOPER'S HAWK. 421 
the ground. By some means the attack was only partly successful, and 
the Lark hopped about for afew moments with the Hawk upon his 
back. The ridiculousness of his position seemed to disconcert the Hawk, 
who relaxed his grip, only to find himself attacked by bill and claws of 
his victim. Then followed a fierce fight with claws, bills and wings, in 
which both contestants appeared equally active and determined. Finally 
the combatants separated, the Hawk fiying in one direction disappointed, 
dejected and disgusted, the Lark in another, recovering his breath by 
extraordinary cries of alarm and distress. 
The nest of the Sharp-shinned Hawk is usually placed in trees, some- 
times on rocks. The eggs are white, variously shaded, thickly marked 
with different shades of brown. They measure about 1.45 by 1.15. 
ACCIPITER COOPERI Bp. 
Cooper’s Hawk; Chicken Hawk. 
Falco cooperit, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 164, 179. 
Astur cooperi, READ, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1852, 220; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 
395. 
Accipiter cooperi, KIRKPATRICK, Ohio Farmer, viii, 1858, 147; Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1858, 
315.— BREWER, N. A. Oology, Smithsonian Contributions, xi, 1859, 20.—WuHxaTOoN, 
Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 360; Reprint, 1861, 2; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric, 
Rep. for 1874, 570; Reprint, 1875, 10.—LaNn@pon, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 12. 
Nisus coopert, BAIRD, BREWER, and RipGway, iii, 1874, 233.—LANGDON, Revised List, 
Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 180; Reprint 14; Summer Birds, ib, iii, 1880, 
22d. 
Cooper’s Hawk, KIRTLAND, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 1. 
falco cooperi, BONAPARTE, Am. Orn., ii, 1828, 1. 
Accipiter coopert, GRAY, List B. Br. Mus. ii, 38. 
Nisus coopert, RipGway, Proc. Bost. Soc., xvi, 1873, 59. 
Feet moderately stout; bare portion of tarsus shorter than middle toe; scutelle re- 
maining distinct ; tail a littlerounded., Colors and their changes as in A. fuscus; larger, 
male, 16-18; wing, 9-10; tail, 7-8; female, 18-20; wirg, 10-11; tail, 8-9. Whole foot 
4 or more. 
Habitat, Temperate North America and southward. 
Very common resident in Southern and Middle, more rare in Northern 
Ohio. Breeds. Dr. Kirtland, 1850, mentions it as breeding abund- 
antly in former years. Neither Mr. Read nor Mr. Kirkpatrick indicate 
that they were personally acquainted with it. Mr. Langdon gives it 
as a rather common summer resident in the vicinity of Cincinnati. In 
this vicinity it is one of the most abundant Hawks, especially in 
winter, when it approaches human habitations, and road-sides. It is 
extremely methodical and regular in its habits at this season, and the 
