114 LLOVDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



near the surface of the water, from Sahiion and Trout down- 

 wards to the smaller species. Its spiky soles and powerful 

 talons enable it to hold the fish in security, and so tightly does 

 it grasp its prey that the talons are unlocked with difficulty, 

 and instances have been known of the bird having been 

 carried below the water and drowned, when it has struck a fish 

 stronger than itself. 



The favourite breeding-haunt of the Osprey is a forest where 

 there is water in the vicinity, in which it can obtain a sufficient 

 supply of fish, and solitude and quiet are the conditions which 

 it loves best. In America, and even in certain parts of Europe, 

 the bird is gregarious, and several pairs nest in company. Mr. 

 Seebohm mentions an instance in which he observed them 

 thus nesting on an island in a Pomeranian lake, and in North 

 America as many as three hundred pairs of Ospreys have been 

 known to breed in a similar situation. When hunting for its 

 prey, this large Fishing-Eagle goes to work very much like a 

 gigantic Kestrel, sailing quietly along above the water, and 

 occasionally hovering over it, and then descending on the fish 

 with a plunge which can be heard for a long distance. The 

 bird is said often to disappear beneath the surface of the water, 

 while at other times it appears to catch the fish with its talons 

 without wetting its feet to any great extent. The close-set 

 feathering of the thighs and the bare tars'js and toes are dif- 

 ferent from the general aspect of an Accipitrine bird's leg, but 

 the long thigh-feathers and feathered feet of an ordinary Eagle 

 would be decidedly a drawback to a bird like the Osprey, whose 

 legs are so often in the water. 



Nest. — This is a gigantic structure, whether it be placed on 

 a tree or on some ruin in an inland lake. Mr. Seebohm 

 writes : " From the great weight and bulkiness of the Osprey's 

 nest, and from the fact that the same situation is resorted to 

 for many years in succession, the branches which support it 

 are not unfrequently distorted in growth and flattened. In 

 other cases the Osprey has several favourite eyries in one 

 chosen locality, and appears to utilise them in turn, like the 

 White-tailed Eagle or the Peregrine. As a rule the largest tree 

 in the forest, the patriarch of the timber, is selected to hold 

 the nest, which is built at varying heights from the ground, 



