AMERICAN OSPREY 363 



until their mother gives them a note of assurance. They will even 

 allow themselves to be handled without showing any signs of life, 

 except for the motion of breathing or the winking of an eyelid. I 

 have seen young ospreys hold this hiding pose for over an hour, 

 even when partially fledged. Once, as I approached an osprey's nest 

 in a grove, the old birds made a great outcry; and, as I came near 

 enough to see the nest, no young were visible. I withdrew and con- 

 cealed myself. After the old birds had flown away and all was quiet, 

 I saw three half-grown young stand up in the nest and watch for 

 their mother's return. She came at last, saw me, and gave the warn- 

 ing cry. The young immediately dropped down out of sight; and 

 although I remained in the vicinity for over an hour, the young 

 never showed themselves again. 



Very different behavior was noted in another nest in the same 

 grove, which held two large young, fully fledged and nearly ready 

 to fly. These youngsters evidently had nothing to fear, for they 

 stood up in the nest constantly, craning their necks to watch my 

 movements, in spite of the warning cries of both parents, who seemed 

 greatly concerned. Probably the hiding pose is of importance only 

 while the young are small and subject to attack by flesh-eating birds 

 and is no longer necessary after they are large enough to defend 

 themselves. 



There is evidently considerable mortality among young ospreys ; I 

 have repeatedly noted that nests, occupied by brooding birds in May, 

 were empty and deserted long before the time for the young to have 

 flown. I once found a half-grown young lying on the ground, under 

 a nest I was watching, with a badly crushed skull and one claw torn 

 out. There had been a severe thunder storm the night before, which 

 may have caused the young bird to fall out of the nest, and the skull 

 may have been crushed by striking a stone wall directly under the 

 tree. 



Mr. Abbott (1911) gives a good account of the behavior of young 

 ospreys, as follows: 



Not until they are well feathered have I ever heard them emit anything 

 approaching Osprey-like sounds ; I have then observed them imitate the cry 

 of their parent overhead, in a charmingly babyish and amusing manner. 



At this latter age they add to the death-feigning instinct of the earlier period, 

 a most Interesting habit, which we may term "looking fierce." If, as 

 they lie flat in the nest, they are approached too closely or touched, the 

 first sign of life is a bristling of the feathers on the back. If the intru- 

 sion be continued they rise suddenly in the nest and turn toward one with 

 ruffled feathers and glaring eyes, which, coupled with a desire to bite when 

 opportunity offers, is evidently calculated to scare the boldest of assailants. 

 It does not take one long to discover, however, that this display of fierceness 

 is mere show, and that even with its formidable bill the young bird is ap- 

 parently incapable of inflicting a painful wound. The attitudes assumed by 



