AMERICAN OSPRF.Y 369 



a stick, and had freed the hen, which, however, died during the 

 night. The Hawk which she gave me, was in a starved and emaci- 

 ated condition, and was, of course, much bedraggled from lying out 

 of doors in the rain." 



Benjamin K. Warriner (1934) saw an osprey catch a turtle, of 

 which he says: "When he rose from the water he carried a black 

 object which I could not at first identify. Then I could see— a turtle 

 some six or seven inches across. The Osprey fought desperately 

 to hold his victim, but of course the turtle's bony covering prevented 

 the bird's claws from penetrating below the surface. Suddenly 

 he lost his hold and the turtle came down hard upon a big stump, 

 and bounced off into the water." 



Behavior. — The flight of the osprey is powerful and well sustained, 

 swift and dashing at times, but oftener slow and heavy. It soars 

 at times on motionless wings but ordinarily proceeds with deliberate 

 flappings. In ordinary traveling flight the wing is somewhat flexed 

 at the wrist joint; even when the bird is soaring the wings are not held 

 so straight out as they are in the Buteos. This curvature of wing 

 makes the osprey recognizable often at a long distance. When hover- 

 ing over a fish, the wings are flapped rapidly, but the body is not held 

 in the vertical position assumed by the kingfisher. In flight the 

 feet are extended under the tail. 



The behavior of ospreys about their nests is characteristic, quite 

 uniform, and quite different from that of any other bird of prey. As 

 soon as a stranger is seen approaching, the sitting bird, who is always 

 on the lookout for trouble, rises up and begins her musical, whistling 

 cackle; as the man draws near, her notes become shriller, increasing 

 to loud, ear-piercing screams, intercepted by the short, sharp, im- 

 pulsive ^c^', icl:, ick notes, on a lower key and more metallic. She 

 soon leaves the nest and circles about, screaming lustily; she is then 

 joined by her mate and perhaps one or two of her neighbors. If the 

 man climbs the tree, he must expect to be attacked, or at least threat- 

 ened, although this does not always happen. The method of attack 

 is to make vicious swoops at the intruder, but seldom striking him. 



I have frequently been attacked and even struck on the head and 

 shoulders, but have never even been scratched; a rush of wjngs, as 

 the bird swerves uncomfortably close, is the usual experience. Many 

 birds are content to fly about and scream at a safe distance, but they 

 do not fly away and desert their nests, as other hawks do. Ospreys 

 that nest near houses seem to recognize harmless friends and pay 

 no attention to familiar human beings; but with strangers their 

 behavior is very different. 



Only once have I ever found an osprey "asleep at the switch" 

 in daylight. We visited an old nest 60 feet up in a tall pine in some 

 woods but saw no birds about it and concluded that it was unoc- 



