OSPREY 399 



but some doubt has been expressed as to whether the species ever 

 really nested in the Lake District, an account to that effect dating 

 from the seventeenth century referring perhaps to another bird. Be this 

 as it may, the report of the former breeding of the species on the 

 south coast of England appears to be unsypported by any tangible 

 evidence. In Scotland, on the other hand, ospreys doubtless nested 

 to a large extent in former days, Ardvreck Castle, in Sutherlandshire, 

 being one of these old breeding-places. Nowada}-s, thanks to special 

 protection, the species still nests in two localities in Inverness-shire, 

 and in one in Ross-shire; while in 1891 a nest was recorded from 

 a fourth district. In 1904 it was stated, however, that the osprey 

 was soon likely to be exterminated as a breeding-species in Scotland. 

 Although there is no record that the osprey ever nested in Ireland, 

 the bird occurs not unfrequently as a casual visitor, generally in 

 autumn, such visitors being, as a rule, if not invariably, immature 

 individuals. Similar autumnal stragglers mainly represent the species 

 at the present day in England ; but now and then a pair of adult 

 birds is seen in spring. From Scotland the species departs in 

 autumn in search of a milder winter home. 



Ospreys live entirely on fish, which they seize in their claws and 

 carry off to a convenient feeding-place, after having dashed down into 

 the water with a great splash from a considerable height overhead. 

 The fish, when in the claws of its captor, appears to be always held 

 with the head pointing forwards. As sometimes happens also in the 

 case of the white-tailed eagle, an osprey may occasionally seize a fish 

 too heavy for it to lift out of the water, when the bird, in consequence 

 of being unable to extricate its claws from the flesh of the intended 

 victim, is pulled under water by the latter and drowned ; the fish, 

 of course, also perishing sooner or later. Quite recently a British 

 resident in Assam found on the bank of a river the carcase of a masir 

 carp to which was attached the feet and part of the body of an osprey 

 which had perished in this manner. As in the case of the eagle, the 

 nests may be situated either on rocks or in trees, the latter being 

 apparently the favourite site in Europe. Indeed, forests in the 

 neighbourhood of waters are in many districts the special resorts of 

 the osprey ; and on many of the Himalayan rivers it is no uncommon 

 sight to see one of these birds perched on a dead trunk on the 

 outskirts of the forest either engaged in devouring its prey or taking 

 a well-earned rest. Ospreys are exceedingly shy birds, and keep, as 

 a rule, far from the haunts of men ; but when a situation to their 

 liking is found, they are sociable birds, and in some parts of North 



