50 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



has been called " an unerrino^ instinct ! " Acci- 

 dents of this kind are doubtless of rare occur- 

 rence, and may be placed in the same category 

 with the sudden death of a civic dignitary who 

 had incautiously swallowed a turbot-bone at a 

 Lord Mayor's dinner. Seldom, indeed, does the 

 bird seize a fish which he is unable to carry off 

 with ease, and as rarely would a bone of such 

 deadly dimensions escape the aldermanic eye ; 

 but these things have occurred nevertheless, and 

 to any one who has examined the foot of a re- 

 cently killed osprey the matter will appear quite 

 possible, as far as the bird is concerned : the ex- 

 treme length and sharpness of the claws, and their 

 almost semicircular curvature — exceeding that of 

 any of our raptorial birds — added to the versatility 

 of the outer toe, which enables it to clutch its 

 prey with greater firmness, must at the same time 

 render the sudden extrication of its talons propor- 

 tionably difficult, should an urgent necessity for 

 such an attempt occur; but that it is not volunta- 

 rily practised on ordinary occasions would appear 

 from the observation of Mr. Yarrell, who, in re- 

 ference to the habits of a living specimen in the 

 gardens of the Zoological Society, says, that after 

 " digging in the claws, it held the fish most firmly 

 by four opposite points, not relaxing its hold or 



