THE FISH-HAWK. 59 



feet, his long wings, as they beat the air in quick, sharp 

 strokes, give the bird the appearance of being much larger 

 than he really is. When he plunges into the water, he 

 invariably seizes the fish, his prey, in his talons, and is 

 sometimes immersed to the depth of a foot or eighteen 

 inches in his efforts to capture it. He is of a peaceable 

 disposition, and never molests any of his feathered neigh- 

 bors. If the nest is plundered, the parent attacks the in- 

 truder, and often inflicts ugly wounds in its defence. 



The eggs are usually laid before the 10th of May : they 

 are generally three in number. They vary considerably, 

 both in shape, size, and markings. In a majority of speci- 

 mens in my collection, the ground-color is a rich reddish- 

 cream, and covered with numerous blotches of different 

 shades of brown. In a number of specimens, these blotches 

 are confluent, and the primary color is nearly hidden. Their 

 form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal, and the dimen- 

 sions from 2.28 to 2.44 inches in length, and from 1.65 to 

 1.83 in breadth. 



