PANinONIDM: FISH HAWKS, OSPREYS. 



699 



The supraorbital shield is ruditnentary, leaving eye flush with side of head. The fomily con- 

 sists of a single genus, and probably but one cosmopolitan species, the well-l^nown Osprey, 

 Pandion haliaetus. It is made type of a suborder Pandiones by Sharpe, and reduced to a 

 subfamily of Falconidre by the A. O. U. 



PANDION. (Gr. JJavdiuu, Lat. Pandion, nom. propr. Fig. 47G.) Ospreys. To the fore- 

 going add: Wings very long, pointed; 2d and 3d primaries longest; 1st between 3d and 

 5th ; 3 outer ones abruptly emarginate on inner webs, and 2d to 4th sinuate on outer webs. 

 Tail short, scarcely or not half as long as wing. Sexes alike; 9 larger. Young similar. 

 P. haliae'tiis carolinerisis. (See Haliaiitus.) Amehican Osprey. Fisil Hawk. Adult 

 ^ 9 • Above, dark vaiidyki'-brown, blackcniiiLT "ti <|Mill-- ; fcat!ici-s of iippr-r purts more or less 

 completely edged witli 

 paler color — the older 

 the bird, the less con- 

 spicuous the white 

 markings except on 

 tlie head. Tail dark- 

 brown witli dusky 

 bars, white tip and 

 sliafts, and inner welis 

 of all but middle })air 

 of feathers regularly 

 barred with white and 

 dark, but these mark- 

 ings tending to obso- 

 lescence with increas- 

 ing age. Head, neck, 

 and under parts white ; 

 crown more or less ex- 

 tensively streaked with 

 blackish, and a heavy 

 b 1 a c k 1 s h j)Ostocular 

 stri[»e to nape ; breast 

 more ( 9 ) <>i" h'ss ( J ) 

 spotted with dusky 

 brown ; the white more 

 or less tinged with 



tawny in some places, especially under the wings and on the head, except in old birds. Colora- 

 tion very variable in relative amounts of dark and white colors, always irrespective of sex ; gen- 

 eral tendency with age to uniformity of dark tones on the back, wings, and tail, and purity of 

 wliite on the head and under parts. Bill blackish, bluing at ba.se and on cere; feet grayish- 

 blue; claws black; iris yellow or red. Length 2 feet or rather less ; extent about 5 feet; 

 wing 17..')0-21..j0; tail S.-W-IO.SO ; tar.sus 2.25 ; middle toe without claw 1.75 ; chord of cul- 

 mcn without cere 1.30 ; chord of claws nearly the same. Young: darker above than the old 

 birds, but the up{)er parts more mottled with white or buff edgings of the featiiers, and the 

 tail more regularly barred. Downy young much variegated with dusky, rusty, and whitish on 

 a gray ground. J^ntire temperate North America, over inland waters and especially along 

 sea-coasts, migratory, abundant. Few birds are better known than this indu.strious fisherman, 

 so often purveyor perforce of the IJald Eagle. Ikeeds anywiiere in its range; nest bulky, 

 finally acrpiiring enormous dimensions by yearly repairs and additions, placed usually in u tree 

 or stnut busli, sometimes on rocks or the ground; sometimes hundreds togetlier. Eggs laid 



-Viler J. Woli.) 



