1910] The Ottawa Naturalist. 145 



infested with them at times, especially when there are several 

 together. The reaspn why swallows are so much attacked is 

 probably due to their habit of returning to the same breeding 

 place for several years in succession, and thereby making much 

 more profitable hosts for the bugs than birds that change their 

 nesting abode each season. It is also interesting to recollect that 

 the nesting period of swallows only covers, at most, three months, 

 so that the bugs are obliged to fast for nine months of the year. 

 Most of this time, however, is spent in hibernation. 



NESTING OF THE AMERICAN OSPREY. 

 By W. J. Brown, Westmount, Que. 



The heavy dense woods of tamarack, black spruce and 

 balsam, with poplars and birches scattered here and there, 

 which skirt the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are an excel- 

 lent breeding ground for the American Osprey. From May 28th 

 to June 15th of the present year twenty nests of this bird were 

 located in an area of timber extending some twelve miles along 

 the coast. The nearest nest from the shore was about one mile 

 inland; then they appear to extend horizontally half a mile 

 apart , placed on the very top of all sorts of trees, generally dead 

 ones. In one instance two or three nests were but two hundred 

 yards apart. 



It is easy to find these huge nests of the Osprey, as they can 

 be seen some eight hundred yards away with the sitting bird 

 moving her head in all directions looking for possible enemies. 

 As soon as you are detected and you can count on the fish hawk 

 seeing you half a mile away the bird slowly rises off her nest 

 and comes up to meet you, making all the time a whistling note 

 and performing certain revolutions characteristic of the species. 

 As you approach the nest it is more difficult for one to locate it, 

 as these evergreen woods are ver}' heavy and the underbrush 

 equally so. However, the bird is overhead and practically leads 

 one to the nest. Some of the nests are situated in small clearings 

 and are, therefore, more easily found. As stated, it is easy to 

 locate the nests, but it is quite another matter to procure the 

 eggs. The largest nest examined was between five and six feet 

 atross and about two feet deep built largely of sticks and lined 

 with seaweed and grasses. The others were not quite so bulky, 

 averaging about four to five feet. The only way to get into these 

 nests is to hug the tree with one arm and work an avenue or lane 

 over the side of the nest with the other hand. This is an extreme- 



