28 BIRDS OF PREY. 



world. In summer it wanders into the Arctic regions of 

 Europe, Asia, and America ; it is also equally prevalent in the 

 milder parts of both continents, as in Greece and Egypt. In 

 America it is found in the summer from Labrador, and the 

 interior around Hudson's Bay, to Florida; and according to 

 Buffon, it extends its residence to the tropical regions of 

 Cayenne. 



Its food being almost uniformly fish, it readily acquires sub- 

 sistence as long as the waters remain unfrozen ; but at the 

 commencement of cool weather, even as early as the close of 

 September, or at farthest the middle of October, these birds 

 leave New York and New Jersey and go farther south. This 

 early period of departure is, in all probability, like their arrival 

 towards the close of March, wholly regulated by the coming 

 and going of the shoals of fish on which they are accustomed 

 to feed. Towards the close of March or beginning of April 

 they arrive in the vicinity of Boston with the first shoal of 

 alewives or herrings ; but yet are seldom known to breed along 

 the coast of Massachusetts. Their arrival in the spring is wel- 

 comed by the fisherman as the sure indication of the approach 

 of those shoals of shad, herring, and other kinds of fish which 

 now begin to throng the bays, inlets, and rivers near the ocean ; 

 and the abundance with which the waters teem affords ample 

 sustenance for both the aerial and terrestrial fishers, as each 

 pursues in peace his favorite and necessary employment. In 

 short, the harmless industry of the Osprey, the familiarity with 

 which he rears his young around the farm, his unexpected 

 neutrality towards all the domestic animals near him, his sub- 

 limely picturesque flight and remarkable employment, with the 

 strong affection displayed towards his constant mate and long 

 helpless young, and the wrongs he hourly suffers from the 

 pirate Eagle, are circumstances sufficiently calculated, without 

 the aid of ready superstition, to ensure the public favor and 

 tolerance towards this welcome visitor. Driven to no harsh 

 necessities, like his superiors the Eagles, he leads a compar- 

 atively harmless life ; and though unjustly doomed to servitude, 

 his address and industry raise him greatly above his oppressor, 

 so that he supplies himself and his young with a plentiful 



