THE OSPREY. 



We were happy when the colony appeared 

 larger for then we knew, that the oft returning' 

 birds were bringing food to the chattering 

 young which soon showed their faces at the 

 burrow's mouth. Then came the glorious time 

 of the first flight of the first short anxious dis- 

 tance covered. Then the trip to the wires from 

 which post all future lessons were taught by 

 example. All these and many other interesting 

 points would they have noted, had they only 

 been willing to observe. 



Another pretty picture greeted our eyes a 

 little below the New Bridge. Here a pair of 

 Pied-billed Grebes better known as Hell-divers 

 were disporting themselves upon a mass of 

 floating Ceratophyllum from which the}' glided 

 gentl}' beneath the surface and deftly evaded 

 all our attempts to get a picture of them. 

 Little use it would be to expose a plate at the 

 bill of a Grebe, particularly if that was a 

 hundred feet or more distant. Rarely ever did 

 they project their necks above the surface when 

 within gun range. These birds possess the 

 power of raising and sinking their bodies to a 

 most wonderful degree. This changing of 

 specific gravity is a gift possessed by all of the 

 divers, and in a lesser degree by many of the 

 other water fowls. 



Another lovely picture which our camera 

 failed to record was a Kingfisher poised some 

 twenty feet above the surface of the water, per- 

 fectly stationary, his wings rapidly fanning the 

 air as he surveyed the liquid medium beneath 

 him. He had evidently espied some small fish 

 as he was passing, and was now poising for 

 for a strike. Swift as a flash he dropped 

 down, diving beneath the surface, reappear- 

 ings hortly with his catch firmly held in his 

 long, strong bill. He bore his prey to a low 

 dead willow limb on shore, where we carefully 

 stalked him to take a snap which resulted in a 

 tiny image of the bird upon our plate. Several 

 Green Herons were feeding along shore and re- 

 treated hastily to the dense willow cover as we 

 silently approached too near to suit their fancy. 



Three other birds deserve a mention before 

 we leave the marsh. The Osprey — two of which 

 were seen sailing grandly about the open waters, 

 in spite of all the din and noise, now and then 

 stopping, poising for a moment and plunging 

 into the waters, sending it in a merry spray from 



their quivering pinions as they emerge from the 

 sparkling deep. 



The Osprey does not shift its center of gravity 

 when it poises above the water as does the King- 

 fisher, whose body changes almost to a vertical 

 from the horizontal position as he preparee for a 

 plunge. Neither does the Osprey dive headfirst 

 as does the Kingfisher; but he plunges into the 

 water with wings extended widely upward; 

 clutching' his prey with his powerful outstretch- 

 ed talons. Twice this day did I have a chance 

 to snap my camera at the Osprey as he emerged, 

 each time with a small catfish; but only one of 

 my pictures shows the bird, and that, decidedly in 

 miniature. It may seem strange, but every fish 

 which I have seen the Osprey catch about Wash- 

 ington, and have been close enough to deter- 

 mine has proved to be catfish. I have several 

 times surprised the bird into dropping his prey 

 by approaching" the spot where he was enjoying 

 his catch unobserved, and each time have found 

 it to be a catfish. In the Mississippi Valley I 

 found him less exacting as far as food was con- 

 cerned, for there, I have often noticed one 

 seeking a dead limb with a small water-snake in 

 its talons. 



A> evening drew near, and the many pretty 

 dragon-flies which had been whirring about the 

 reeds were each seeking a resting place for the 

 night, just before the Night Hawk and Bats 

 were leaving their retreat to hunt the marsh, a 

 Great Blue Heron dropped in. and with calm 

 and measured strides beat back and forth in the 

 shallow water, now and then unlimbering his 

 graceful position long enough to inspect some 

 near by object and perchance make a few 

 vicious stabs at some luckless bit of animation 

 which he called his game, only to resume his 

 majestic strides a moment after. Night Herons, 

 single, in pairs or threes, were directing their 

 flight to different parts of the marsh; all were 

 coming from a northeasterly direction. I 

 have been watching this Night Heron fligiit for 

 several years, and strongly suspect a roosting 

 place of these most beautiful birds, perhaps 

 even within the bounds of the District, and 

 shall inquire into it a little more closely when 

 autumn frosts will have robbed our trees of their 

 foliage, and perhaps another year may furnish 

 a set of photos and facts concerning the home- 

 life of Nycticorax nycticorax ncsvius. 



IDLE HOURS AT IDLEWILD 



OR OBSERVATIONS IN CENTRAL MONTEREY COUNTY. 



By Milton S. Ray. 



I had the good fortune to spend two weeks in 

 June, (1900,) among- the redwoods near the mouth 

 of the Little Sur River in central Monterey 

 County. The country is very rough and moun- 

 tainous, and the timber (principally redwood, 

 alder, laurel, madrone, sycamore, live and tan- 

 bark oak) is chiefly confined to the river bottoms 

 and a short distance up the adjacent hillsides. 

 Above this is a rocky area covered with sage- 

 brush and chamisal. 



For several miles along the river birds of 

 mountain and valley intergrade. I frequently 



noticed the California Jay (Aphelocoma califor- 

 nica) and Blue-fronted Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri 

 frontalis}, and also the California Partridge 

 (Lophortyx californica) and Plume Mountain 

 Partridge (Oreortyx pictus plumiferus) in the 

 same locality. It is claimed that the last is not 

 found below an altitude of 4,000 feet, yet two 

 miles from the ocean along the North Fork I 

 noticed a number of them, and found some egg 

 shells in the sage-brush above the river. Of all 

 the birds the noisy Blue-fronted Jay was the 

 commonest. On June 13th, while fishing on the 



