_Falco cooperi_, BONAP. Am. Orn. pl. x, fig. 1, 1825; Ann. Lyc. N. Y.
II, 433; Isis, 1832, 1137.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. IV, 1831, 3.—PEAB.
B. Mass. III, 78. _Accipiter cooperi_, GRAY, List B. Brit. Mus. 38,
1844; Gen. B. fol. sp. 6.—CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex. p. 96, 1854; Birds
N. Am. 1858, 16.—SCLAT. Pr. Z. S. 1859, 389 (difference from _A.
pileatus_, MAX.).—HEERM. P. R. R. Rep’t, VII, 31, 1857.—COOP. & SUCKL.
P. R. R. Rep’t, XII, ii, 145, 1860.—COUES, Prod. Orn. Ariz. p. 7,
1866.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 323 (Texas).—BLAKIST. Ibis, III, 1861,
317.—SCL. & SALV. Ex. Orn. I, 1869, 170.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 32, 1869.
_Astur cooperi_, JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. III, 363, 1832.—BONAP. List,
p. 5; Rev. Zool. 1850, 489; Consp. Av. 31.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 18,
pl. iv, p. 5.—NEWB. P. R. R. Rep’t, VI, iv, 74, 1857.—MAX. Cab. Journ.
VI, 1858, 13. _Falco stanleyi_, AUD. B. Am. pls. xxxvi, cxli; Orn.
Biog. I, 186. _Accipiter pileatus_ (not of MAX.!), STRICKL. Orn. Syn.
I, 109, 1855. _Accipiter cooperi_, BREWER, Oölogy, 1857, 20, pl. v, f.
55.
SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (No. 10,086). Forehead, crown, and occiput
blackish-plumbeous; the latter snowy-white beneath the surface; rest of
upper parts slaty-plumbeous, the nape abruptly lighter than the occiput;
feathers of the nape, back, scapulars, and rump with darker shaft-lines;
scapulars with concealed cordate and circular spots of white; upper
tail-coverts sharply tipped with white. Tail more brownish than the
rump, sharply tipped with pure white, and crossed with three broad,
sharply defined bands of black, the first of which is concealed, the
last much broadest; that portion of the shaft between the two exposed
black bands white. Lores grayish; cheeks and throat white, with fine,
hair-like shaft-streaks of blackish; ear-coverts and sides of neck
more ashy, and more faintly streaked. Ground-color beneath pure white;
but with detached transverse bars of rich vinaceous-rufous, crossing
the jugulum, breast, sides, flanks, abdomen, and tibiæ; the white
bars everywhere (except on sides of the breast) rather exceeding the
rufous in width; all the feathers (except tibial plumes) with distinct
black shaft-lines; lower tail-coverts immaculate, pure white. Lining
of the wing white, with numerous cordate spots of rufous; coverts
with transverse blackish bars; under side of primaries silvery-white,
purest basally (tips dusky), crossed with quadrate bars of dusky, of
which there are six (the first only indicated) upon the longest quill
(fourth). Wing, 9.20; tail, 7.80; tarsus, 2.35; middle toe, 1.60. Fourth
quill longest; third shorter than fifth; second intermediate between
sixth and seventh; first, 2.80 shorter than longest; graduation of tail,
1.00.
_Adult female_ (26,588, Washington, D. C.; Elliott Coues). Similar to
the male. Forehead tinged with brownish; upper plumage much less bluish.
Neck and ear-coverts uniformly rufous, with black shaft-streaks, there
being no ashy wash as in the male. Tail decidedly less bluish than in
the male, crossed with four bands, three of which are exposed. The
rufous bars beneath less vinaceous than in the male, but of about the
same amount, rather predominating on the tibiæ. Wing, 10.70; tail, 9.00;
tarsus, 2.45; middle toe, 1.80. Fourth and fifth quills longest and
equal; third longer than sixth; second intermediate between sixth and
seventh; first three inches shorter than longest.
_Young male_ (55,498, Fort Macon, N. C., February; Dr. Coues). Above
grayish-umber; feathers of forehead, crown, and nape faintly edged
laterally with pale rusty; occiput unvaried blackish, feathers white
beneath the surface. Wing-coverts, scapulars, and interscapulars
narrowly bordered with pale yellowish-umber; rump and upper tail-coverts
bordered with rusty. Tail paler umber than the back, narrowly tipped
with white, and crossed by four bands of brownish-black, the first of
which is only partially concealed. Scapulars and upper tail-coverts
showing much concealed white, in form of roundish spots, on both webs.
Beneath clear white, without any yellowish tinge; throat with a medial
and lateral series of clear dark-brown streaks; jugulum, breast, sides,
flanks, and abdomen with numerous stripes of clear sepia, each showing a
darker shaft-streak; tibiæ with longitudinal streaks of paler and more
rusty brown; lower tail-coverts immaculate.
_Young female_ (6,876 “Sacramento Valley, Cal.”; Dr. Heermann—probably
from Pennsylvania). Similar to young male; more varied, however. The
black middle streaks of feathers of head above narrower, causing more
conspicuous streaks; white spots of scapular region considerably
exposed; longitudinal stripe beneath narrower and more sparse.
HAB. North America in general, but rare in the western division; Eastern
Mexico. Not found in West Indies, where replaced by _A. gundlachi_,
LAWR.
Localities: Southeastern Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 323, breeds);
Arizona (_Coues_, Prod. 1866, 43); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 134).