ii6 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



said to be a resident) to the Red Sea. It is a 

 summer migrant in the northern portions of its 

 range, and a winter one in many of the southern 

 limits. 



Of all the raptorial birds the Osprey is the 

 most aquatic in its habits, and its haunts are 

 always more or less close to waters well stocked 

 with fish. In our islands the favourite haunts 

 of this bird are the wild mountain deer forests, the 

 hill-surrounded lochs and quiet lakes studded with 

 islands, on many of which some ancient fortress 

 or ruined tower tells of warlike deeds of the long 

 ago. Although many of these secluded Highland 

 waters literally teem with fish, the Osprey is far 

 too rare a bird to be seen near them in any 

 numbers, an isolated pair here and there being 

 all ; but in North America, where the species is a 

 much more abundant one, large colonies of these 

 birds may frequently be met with. The Osprey 

 reaches its breeding-grounds in Scotland in April 

 or May. We have had few opportunities of 

 studying this bird in a wild state ; but we can 

 vividly recall our first sight of the Osprey in its 

 native land, close to the head-waters of Loch 

 Carron. The bird was about thirty feet above the 

 water, passing along, hovering every now and then 



