THE OSPREY. 



93 



Answers. 



1. The movement in apparently hut one direc- 

 tion is prohahly clue to the fact that these birds, 

 through some peculiarity of prevailing;- wind 

 direction or land con tij;;u ration, fly close to shore 

 only when passing; westward, and that they 

 return by a i-oute farther out in the lake, thus 

 escapini;- casual observation; a condition of 

 affairs not infrecjuent in other localities. 



2 There do not seem to be any publhhcd 

 records, thouj^h such occurrences ma}- be known 

 to some of tlie Osi'KKv's readers. 



3. Althou-^h a comparatively frequent winter 

 visitor to New York State and at least the more 

 northern sections of New Eng^land, the Great 

 Grey Owl appears to be cjuite rare in Ohio, and 

 no very recent records have come to light. The 



species breeds in Alaska and British America 

 from Hudson's Bay northward to the limit of 

 trees. Information refj^^ardinjj;- its nidification is 

 very scanty, but enouf,rh is known to indicate 

 that its nest is commonly constructed of twij^s 

 and moss, with a lininj;- oif feathers, and placed 

 in the V>ranches of spruce or poplar. The ej^'-gs 

 are from two to four in number, and are depos- 

 ited sometimes as early as Ajjril, or even as late 

 as June. 



4. The nestin;,'- of the Ni<;hthawk upun the 

 tlat roofs of city buildinfj^s has become so well 

 attested that no doubt whatever remains of the 

 fact. Indeed, so numerous are the instances, 

 that they are no long-er con.sidered remarkable 

 or unusual. 



H. C. O. 



Notes. 



The Ospkev in England is the subject of 

 an editorial article in The Sahirday A'Ci'ictC for 

 December 2, 18'^). It is so interestinj;- and ])er- 

 tinent in some respects to conditions in the 

 United States that we feel it will be a service to 

 the readers of the Osi^kkv to republish it, since 

 the Review is accessible to few of them without 

 much trouble. 



The Review thinks that the bird is one "that 

 loves quietness and seclusion" and that "its 

 former Southern Coast haunts will for that 

 reason probably know it no more." Dispair 

 Tieed not be entertained on that account, how- 

 ever, for the bird readily accomodates itself to 

 human company when encourag^ed to do so. 

 The pai^es of the Osi'KKV record several nests 

 in vilhijL^es protected by the human inhabi- 

 tants. — Editors. 



THE OSI'KEV. 



The shootin^f of an osprey in Norfolk, on the 

 ornamental waters of Mr. Justice Cozens- 

 Hardy's estate, not long- since, enables us to 

 call attention to the case of one of our most in- 

 teresting British birds, now hunted by collec- 

 tors to the very verge of extinction. The rare 

 specimens which occasionally visit the old 

 haunts of the species almost invariably meet 

 with the fate of this Norfolk bird; the first 

 prowling gunner who observes them lets tly at 

 them. And in this the osprey's lot does not 

 differ from that of other rare birds; wntness the 

 fate of the honev buzzard the other day which 

 roused Sir Herbert Maxwell's rigliteous indigna- 

 tion, though apparently he sees nothing to 

 object to in the massacre of Muscovy ducks. 

 With a little encouragement and intelligent pro- 

 tection from landowners the osprey might again 

 be a familiar feature of our island waters; but 

 in face of the fact that every specimen is 

 shot down as soon as it appeal's, the naturalist 

 who desires to see our country rich in varied 

 feathered life may well despair of any such con- 

 summation. A few Scottish owners have done 

 their best to preserve the species, and thanks to 

 their eH'orts it still breeds in one or two of its 

 North British haunts; but it has vanished from 

 England. Is it too nnich to hope that an appeal 

 to English landowners may result in effective 



protective actii)n with a view t<> wooing- it back 

 again? 



It is not likely, even with the most wid-^spread 

 protection, that the bird would ever again cover 

 the whole extent of its old range. It is a bird 

 that loves quietness and seclusion; its former 

 Southern Coast haunts will for that reason pro- 

 bably know it no more. But in the Lake dis- 

 trict, where it used to breed prolifically, in the 

 Broad district of the Eastern Counties, and 

 several similar well-watered areas, there are 

 still many remote and quiet i)laces to which it 

 could undoubtedly be encouraged to return. It 

 is especially fond of well-wooded waters. 

 Rivers and meres in woodland districts, over- 

 grown islets, and similar places, g-ive it the con- 

 ditions under which it would flourish again if 

 onh' the gunner could be persuaded to stop his 

 campaign of destruction against every speci- 

 men that makes a tentative visit to our shores. 



In its habits of life the osprey, if it could be 

 induced to return to us, would be one of the 

 most picturesque features of our water areas. 

 The effect of the presence of a few of these fine 

 tishing-eagles about an island lake is very strik- 

 ing-. It has something- of the hovering- habit of 

 the kestrel in its flig-ht; and its pounce and 

 struggle with its jirey is one of the most inter- 

 esting sights imaginable. It is a noisy tisher, 

 making a prodigious splash when it plunges, 

 sometimes going clean under the surface after a 

 fish. It has the spiked feet characteristic of 

 the fishing-owls, and this feature gives it a very 

 great power of talon-grip that occasionally leads 

 to Homeric battle between itself and its prey, in 

 which the bird does not always come oft" best. 

 For this spiked grip makes it difticult for the 

 osprey to unlock its talons once they are closed 

 upon the victim; and although that is an ad- 

 vantage when a small fish is seized, it is some- 

 times the reverse; and instances have been ob- 

 served in which the bird has been dragged and 

 held under water, and drowned before it was 

 able to loosen its grip from the Tartar upon 

 which it had pounced. 



Its destruction of game tish might be urged as 

 a reason against the preservation of the osprey; 

 and certainly it is not a desirable neighbour for 

 salmon and trout, But that is not a point that 



