THE OSPREY. 



11 



THE OSPREY OR FISHHAAVK; ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS. 

 By Theodore Gn.r., Washington, D. C. 



"As is the Osprey to the fish, who takes it 

 By sovereignty of nature" 



Shakespeare, Coriolanus. IV, 7. 



One of the most characteristic and conspicu- 

 ous birds along portions of the American sea- 

 board as well as in the neighborhood of some 

 inland waters is the bird known as the Osprey 

 or Fishhawk. The sojourner in or near the chief 

 watering places of the New Jersey coast, espe- 

 cially Cape May or Atlantic City, by an easy 

 walk or ride may find its haunts or perhaps may 

 see it soaring overhead in the town itself. It is 

 readily recognizable in flight by its long pointed 

 wing's, the white belly and the white head. Its 

 habits are especially interesting and a record of 

 them will now be given. But first, its place in 



the present writer has not revealed any evidence 

 of versatility of the outer toe. 



Pandion, then, beingthe only recognized genus 

 of the family, really needs no diagnosis as such. 

 Nevertheless, the characteristics which are 

 manifest in those parts from which generic 

 characters are derived from groups of the related 

 family of Falconids may be advantageously set 

 apart from those of minor importance. Instead 

 of giving them in original terms, they are 

 mostly translated from Savigny's admirable 

 diagnosis in which they are compared or con- 

 trasted with those of other genera established by 

 himself. This diagnosis will be found to be at 

 least equal to any that has been framed since 

 and deserves reproduction as a sample of the 



FLYING OSPRKY SEEN FROM BK.LOW. 

 (Photographed from mounted specimen by Paul Bartsch ) 



the system and its nomenclature deserve atten- 

 tion. 



The Osprey is distinguished from all other 

 "diurnal birds of prey" by the versatility of the 

 outer toes; these, in a state of rest, may be carried 

 forward as in the Falconids, but when prey is 

 taken, the toes are generally thrown backwards 

 so that the capture is secured by the claws 

 ranked in opposite pairs, and a more efficient 

 grasping instrument is thus improvised. 



The importance of this character was first ap- 

 preciated, to some extent at least, by Bonaparte 

 who constituted for the genus the subfamily 

 Pandionini and he was followed by Sundevall. 

 Later R. B. Sharpe not only elevated this group 

 to family rank (calling it Pandionida) but went 

 to the extreme of differentiating it as a suborder 

 ["Pandiones"). To family rank it is now gen- 

 erally acknowledged to be entitled The genus 

 Pandion appears to be the only known one of 

 that family, although Dr. Sharpe in his latest 

 work (Handlist of Birds, volume i. p. 279, 1899) 

 still combines with it the Indian genus Polioae- 

 tiis. That type, however, appears to be a true 

 Falconid related to the Bald Eagle [Halicectns]. 

 as it has been claimed to be by Gurney, Newton, 

 and Ridgway. An examination of the skins by 



best ornithology of the earliest decade of the 

 century. The only liberty that has been taken 

 is a slight change in the sequence of characters 

 and the addition of certain paragraphs or words, 

 especially those descriptive of the head and tibial 

 feathers. The sequence in Savigny's work is as 

 follow.-: L\iii\ Tongue, Month. Tarsi, Toes, 

 Claivs. Wing, Tail, Eyes. When new words have 

 been injected in Savigny's paragraphs, they 

 have been inclosed in brackets [ ]. 



Savigny, it may be added, ranked Pandion as 

 a genus of the family Falconid;e in an enlarged 

 sense; the family was called by him "Les 

 Eperviers. Accipitres". He admitted therein 

 the following genera: 



AETI. 



5. Aquila. 



6. Halisetus. 



7. Milvus. 



8. Circus. 



9. Da\'dalion. 



10. Pandion. 



11. Elanus. 



HIERACES. 



12. Falco. 



The sequence and combinations of the genera 

 will give an idea of his views of the affinities of 

 the genus — views not now held. 



