THE OSPREYS. 1 13 



tipped with wliite, and barred wilh sepia-brown and asliy- 

 brown alternately. 



N33tling. — Covered with sooty-brown down, the down of the 

 centre of the back, along the bend of the wing, and on the 

 breast and flanks dusky white ; the dorsal feathers d;;rk 

 brown, broadly tipped with ochraceoiis-buff ; crown and ear- 

 coverts blackish ; eyebrow and throat white. 



Range in Great Britain. — Though formerly said to breed on 

 the south coast of England, and in the Lake district up to 

 within a century ago, the eyries of the species are now con- 

 fined to a few places in Scotland. The species is, in fact, 

 threatened with extinction in the British Islands, as its eggs 

 still command a high price, and therefore afford a strong 

 temptation to the keepers of those few places in Scotland 

 in which the species is still preserved. At present, however, 

 the Osprey breeds in Scotland, but it is only owing to the in- 

 telligent pro'ection of a few landowners that the species has 

 persevered so long as an indigenous British species. 



A considerable number of Ospreys occur in various portions 

 of our islands, on the inland lakes and the sea- shores, especially 

 in the estuaries of our southern rivers, and usually in autumn. 

 Most of these specimens are young individuals, and it is only 

 during these wanderings that the Osprey has occurred in Ire- 

 land at all, though, as Mr. Howard Saunders remarks, there 

 are in that island numbers of suitable places for its nidifica- 

 tion. 



Range outside the British Islands. — The Osprey is found in nearly 

 every part of the world, but only in places suited to its shy 

 habits, and affording it a supply of its food. It breeds through- 

 out Europe, Asia, and Africa, but in the latter continent it is 

 probably only a migrant, though it nests on the Dahlak Islands 

 in the Red Sea. In Australia and the neighbouring Moluccas, 

 the Ospreys are smaller and rather darker in plumage, and 

 have been separated as a distinct species under the name of 

 Pafidion leucocephalus. The Australian Ospreys, however, can 

 only be looked upon as a smaller race of our European bird. 



Habits. — The food of the Osprey consists entirely of fish, and 

 on inl md waters it catches any kind that can be reached easily 



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