The Osprey (PohHoh IiuHaetus caroUnensis) 

 By C. Hart Merriam 



Synonym. — Fish Hawk. 



Description. — Adult male: Upper parts plain fuscous; tip of wing blackish; 

 tail crossed by six or eight dusky bands ; head white, heavily but narrowly streaked 

 with blackish ; an irregular dusky band proceeding backward from eye ; feathers 

 of occiput loosely ruffled, or presenting a crested appearance ; under parts white, 

 sometimes rufous-spotted on breast, but usually immaculate; lining of wing mot- 

 tled — white and fuscous near edge, remainder white or buffy, dusky-barred dis- 

 tally; bill and claws black; cere and base of bill bluish black; feet bluish gray; 

 iris yellow and red. Adult female: Similar but breast heavily marked with 

 yellowish brown or fuscous. Immature : Like adult, but feathers of upper 

 parts bordered terminally with white or buffy. The same distinction obtains 

 between the sexes as in case of adults. Length 21 :0O-25.0O (533.4-635) ; wing 

 17.00-20.50 (431.8-520.7); tail 7.00-10.00^(177.8-254.); culmen 1.20-1.40 

 (30.5-35.6). 



Recognition Marks. — Brant size; extensive white contrasting with fuscous, 

 distinctive; labored flight; river- and lake-haunting ways. 



Nest, an immense mass of sticks, broad-topped, lined centrally with bark- 

 strips and soft materials ; placed centrally on top of trees of various heights, 

 or on isolated rocks of rivers, etc. Eggs, 2-4, dull or buiYy white, heavily spotted, 

 blotched, or overspread with chocolate ; rarely almost or quite unmarked. Av. 

 size, 2.45x1.81 (62.2x46.). 



Range. — North American from Hudson Bay and Alaska south to the West 

 Indies and northern South America. Breeds throughout its North American 

 range. 



Along the sea coast, up the large rivers, and wherever there are consid- 

 erable bodies of water, the Fish Hawks are to be found more or less commonly 

 according to the treatment which they have received at the hand of man. They 

 are simple-hearted, honest folk, and deserve protection, if for no other reason, 

 because they are fishermen. They are, however, cruelly persecuted in many 

 sections of the country, and have been almost exterminated in this state ; but to 

 my mind it is a mighty mean sportsman who will begrudge a poor bird the 

 taking of a few fish by methods not less sportsmanlike than his own. 



The Osprey feeds exclusively upon fish and covers long stretches of water 

 in its tireless search. It flies along at a height of fifty or a hundred feet above 

 the water, and when its finny prey is sighted, pauses for a moment on hovering 

 wings, then drops with a resounding splash, often quite disappearing beneath 

 the water, but rising again quickly with a fish firmly secured in its talons. 

 The bird upon rising immediately adjusts the catch, placing it head foremost 

 so that it will offer the lea.st resistance to the air in flight. Not infrequently 

 the Hawk secures a fish which it is barely able to handle, and occasionally it 

 strikes one so large that it is drawn under and drowned before it can disengage 

 its claws. 



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