26 



THE OSPREY. 



and to carry large ones high up into the air and 

 then let them fall from such a height as to break 

 them into pieces. It Ls the Ossifrage of the 

 Bible (Eevit. xi. 13; Deuteron. xiv, 12). How 

 this name became transmuted into Osprey and 

 transferred to the bird called so now would be 

 too long a tale to give here. (Pliny — x. 3— re- 

 fers to it as a kind of ossifrage.) It ha. ; , been in 

 use in England under the form now current or 

 as Ospray, Osfray, or other like for centuries. 

 In 1601, Holland, in his translation of Pliny, 

 used the synonyms "these Orfraies or Ospreis," 

 and "their young Aspraies". In America, too, 

 Osprey is rather a "book-name," although un- 

 derstood by almost all except the very unedu- 

 cated. 



Such is the name in literary ornithology. 

 Among the common people, however, the bird 

 was known as the Fishing' or Fishhawk or 

 Fishing Eagle. MacGillivray* records that "in 

 the north of Scotland it is called the Fishing 

 Hawk, in the west the Fishing Eagle. In Gaelic, 

 it is named "<r« lolair-uisg (the Water Eagle)". 

 Fishhawk is the all but universally used verna- 

 cular term in the United States. 



Mullet Hawk is also a local name in England. 

 Another name that has been attributed to the 

 Osprey is Bald Buzzard. This has been alleged 

 to be an old English name and occurs in some 

 old authors. Further, an individual < Isprey was 

 described and illustrated under that designation 

 in "The Onithology of Francis Willughby" 

 (1678. p. 69, pi. 6, f. sup). The versatile toe is 

 especially noticed as a "most sure mark" dis- 

 tinguishing it from the '•common Buzzard." 

 Willughby also has "the Sea Eagle or Osprey" 

 and paraphrased his description (p. 59) from 

 Aldrovandi. He thinks the description "agrees 

 exactly to the English Bald Buzzard", but, the 

 latter "is a lesser bird" and so he treats of it 

 further on in a chapter "of the several sorts of 

 wild long-winged Hawks". This "Osprey" or 

 "( tesifrage" of Willugby is, indeed, a Sea Eagle. 

 The name Bald Buzzard is a suggestive one 

 and analogous to Bald Eagle. The bird called 

 Bald Eagle is an Eagle in size, and although 

 not bald, next in it: it has a white head! In like 

 manner, the ' (sprey is approximately of the 

 size of a Buzzard, and has also a white head, and 

 is as much entitled to be called "bald" as the 

 Eagle; consequently the designation in question 

 might be supposed to be justified by analogy 

 and historical testimony. The contention is 

 certainly very plausible. Nevertheless, there is 

 some reason to doubt whether the name is of 

 truly indigenous English origin. 



Bald Buzzard is not recognized in any of the 

 standard ornithologies of the British isles as an 

 existent vernacular name. < In the other hand. 

 Balbuzard is the common French name of the 

 Osprey. I.ittre, indeed, derives the name from 

 the English "6ald-6uzzard"; he adds, however, 

 that there is also in low (late) Latin the word 

 "balbuzare, balbutier" (that is, to utter words in 

 a hesitating or imperfect manner); that the 

 Balbuzard may have been named ("balbutieur") 

 on account of its cry. and that the English word 



may have been derived from the French and 

 assimilated to English words. Whatever may 

 be the status of this explanation, we may be 

 permitted to doubt whether the French would 

 have awaited the development of the English 

 language till the words Bald and Buzzard had 

 assumed their present form before giving- the 

 name in question to a bird more common in 

 their own country than in England. We should 

 remember, too, that the Norman French intro- 

 duced many names into England and Bald Buz- 

 zard may have been a fading- reminiscence of 

 their invasion so faded, indeed, that the scien- 

 tific records of the present day show no survival 

 in the vernacular speech. Doubtless, investiga- 

 tion among old documents might settle the 

 question. At any rate, for the present scepti- 

 cism as to the aboriginally of Bald Buzzard as 

 an English name and, still more, the derivation 

 of the French name from the English may be 

 entertained, even in the face of Littre. 



DISTRIBUTION-. 



The genus of Ospreys is among the most 

 widely distributed of land birds, ranging from 

 north of the Arctic circle to the Cape Colony of 

 Africa, to the temperate regions of South 

 America, and to Tasmania in the Australian 

 realm. It has not yet found its way, however, 

 into some notable places, being absent from 

 Iceland, New Zealand, and various islands of the 

 Pacific ( Icean. (It is erroneously attributed to 

 New Zealand by Dresser and Seebohm.) In its 

 wide range, however, there is a slight differen- 

 tiation, or at least tendency towards differentia- 

 tion, for the inhabitants of several of the areas 

 over which the genus extends. This differentia- 

 tion, or assumption based on the facts of dis- 

 tribution, early led to propositions to distin- 

 guish as species the types characteristic of the 

 different areas. Thus, for the best known 

 form -that of Europe — Pa ml ion haliaetos was 

 used; then that characteristic of America was 

 separated (as Pandion carolinensis): that of Aus- 

 tralia was distinguished subsequently (as Pan- 

 dion auslralis). Afterwards, these were united 

 under the earliest designation. Later some 

 naturalists, especially the Americans, recog- 

 nized as subspecies (with trinomial names) the 

 species of the earlier writers. Still later, a 

 reflex wave has set in. and there is now a 

 tendency to again restore the old named species 

 lo full specific rank. Besides these, a fourth 

 almost unknown form has been found in the 

 Bahamas and received the specific name Pandion 

 ridgwayi. 



MIGRATION. 



The tenure of occupancy by the several forms 

 varies with latitude, as the result of variation of 

 temperature. In the warmer districts, the bird 

 is a permanent resident, but in the higher lati- 

 tudes the stay is shortened — to a large extent in 

 proportion to the extent and duration of the 

 cold. A few may remain during the winter of 

 the less intemperate regions. 



♦Descriptions oi t lie Rapacious Birds of Great Britain, I836 p. i ;. 



