62 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



Under parts white, with brown markings on the breast. 

 Legs and cere blue. Iris yellow. Total length about 

 23 inches, wing 19| inches, tail 8| inches. 



The wing spread is 5 to 6 feet, but Buffon, writing 

 towards the close of the eighteenth century, states ex- 

 plicitly that he has records of an Osprey with a wing 

 expanse of no less than 7 feet 6 inches. If correct, this 

 measurement must have been taken from a quite excep- 

 tional bird. 



The female in her plumage resembles the male, but 

 she is larger. 



It may be of interest to conclude this history of 

 the lolair an Uisge with us, by the narration of a 

 desperate fight between two birds, near an ancient 

 nesting site in the Scottish Highlands, The origin of the 

 battle is not known — probably two male birds were fighting 

 for a solitary hen — but for two full hours the combatants 

 struggled fiercely above the surface of the loch. At 

 length, however, one of the fighters gained an advantage. 

 He fell to the surface of the water with his rival underneath 

 him, and succeeded in holding the vanquished bird under 

 until it was drowned. 



