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NATURAL HISTORY. 



PANDION (Gr. Proper name.) 



Haliaetus (Gr. "AAf, the sea, deruf, an Eagle), the Osprcy. 



The feet of the genus Pandion are naked, armed with very 

 long curved talons, the outermost of which can be drawn to- 

 gether, so as to hold their slippery prey. The wings are ample, 

 and the second and third primary feathers the longest. 



The OSPREY, or FISHING HAWK, is spread over the whole 

 of Europe, part of Asia, and some portions of North America. 

 As its name imports, its food consists entirely of fish, which 

 it obtains by dashing into the water, and seizing them with 

 its curved talons. The Osprey, although it takes the fish, is 

 not the only bird that has a predilection for that diet, as the 

 bald-headed eagle frequently waits until the osprey has seized 

 the prey, and then deprives him of it. Want of room prevents 

 the insertion of the entire spirited passage from Wilson's Orni- 

 thology, describing the chase and capture. He relates that 

 the eagle, after watching the osprey as it dashes into the 

 water after its finny prey, starts off in pursuit as it emerges, 

 bearing a fish in its talons. " Each exerts his utmost to 

 mount above the other, displaying, in these rencontres, the 



