A FEATHERED FISHERMAN 283 



get caught in a fish too large to fly away Avith, the 

 Fisherman Bird is dragged under water and drowned." 



" Do they still nest on Round Island ? " asked the 

 Doctor. '' There were a dozen pairs of them there 

 when I was a boy." 



" Yes, sir I But there is only one pair now. It's a 

 great rack of sticks, half as big as a haystack ; for they 

 mend it every season, and so it keeps growing until now 

 it is almost ready to fall out of the old tree that holds 

 it. And, do you know, sir, that Purple Grackles have 

 stuck their ow^n nests into the sides of it, until it is as 

 full of birds as a great summer hotel is of people." 



'' Oh, we must see it ! " said Olive, who had finished 

 putting her seaweeds to press; "for as yet I have only 

 read about such a nest." 



" What does the Osprey look like near to ? " asked Rap. 



" Like a large Hawk," answered the Doctor. " You 

 would know him to be a Hawk by his hooked beak and 

 claws. He walks in the procession of bird families 

 along with the cannibal birds among whom he belongs, 

 and who come after the Birds that only Croak and 

 Call. But he is not a real cannibal, because he lives 

 on fish, and never eats birds. So I will give you a 

 description of him now." 



The Osprey 



Length about two feet. 



Upper parts dark brown with some white on the head and neck. 



Under parts white with some dark spots. 



Feet very large and scaly, with long sharp claws, to hold the 

 slippery fishes he catches. 



A Citizen of North America. 



A very industrious fisherman who minds his own business and 

 does nobody any harm. 



