WINGED FISHERFOLK 



GREAT is the community of the winged 

 fisherfolk, and varied are its methods of 

 securing its prey ! Madras, being well sup- 

 plied with sheets of water, is largely patron- 

 ized by our feathered fishing friends. The kingfishers — 

 the most able exponents of the piscatorial art — have 

 already received our attention ; we may, therefore, pass 

 them over and proceed at once to study the ways 

 of some of their professional brethren. Of these the 

 osprey {Pandion halicetus) is, to my mind, facile prin- 

 ceps. There is, in nature, no finer spectacle than one 

 of these great birds at work. Watch it as it makes its 

 way high over the water, now flapping its broad pinions, 

 now gliding as a kite does. Suddenly something below 

 arrests its attention. It hovers for a second, its wings 

 then close and it drops like a falling stone. It enters 

 the water with a mighty splash, sending up showers 

 of spray, and disappears for a moment. A second later 

 it emerges, the water pouring off its back and wings, 

 with a fish in its talons. It then betakes itself to some 

 suitable place in which to devour its quarry. 



The osprey is a winter visitor to India. It is abun- 

 dant about the great backwaters of the east coast. 



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