42 



THE OSPREY. 



spot around it present the appearance of a mass 

 of foam. On rising- with its prey it is seen hold- 

 ing it" head foremost. 



Its mode of descent on the fish has been 

 described very recently by Professor Bartsch 

 (( (SPREY, v, p. 6. ) "The Osprey does not shift its 

 center of gravity when it poises above the water 

 as does the Kingfisher, whose body changes 

 almost to a vertical from the horizontal position 

 as he prepares for a plunge. Neither does the 

 Osprey dive headfirst as does the Kingfisher; 

 but he plunges into the water with wings ex- 

 tended widely upward; clutching his prey with 

 his powerful outstretched talon-.." 



This manner of precipitating itself upon a 

 selected fish is characteristic of the Ospreys, 

 and not manifested by the true fishing Eagles. 

 The "Large Gray-headed Fishing Eagle" of 

 India. Polioaetus ickthyaetiis, for example, has 

 been especially described (by Blanfordi as "not 

 pouncing down on them like an Osprey, but to 

 swoop upon them "in its flight." 



Having" captured a fish the bird, as was ob- 

 served by Audubon, ••mounts" a few yards into 

 the air. shakes the water from its plumage. 

 squeezes the ti-.li with its talons, and imme- 

 diately proceeds towards its nest, to feed its 

 young, or to a tree to devour the fruit of its in- 

 dustry in peace." That journey towards nest 

 or tree is. however, often interrupted by the 

 onslaught of an Eagle or perhaps a Frigate 

 bird. 



Audubon considered that "the Fish-hawk 

 differs from all birds of prey" in an "important 

 particular, which is, that it never attempts to 

 secure its prey in the air. although its rapidity 

 of flight might induce :m observer to suppose it 

 was perfectly able to do s..." He spent "weeks 

 on the Gulf of Mexico" where these birds were 

 numerous, and observed them "sailing and 

 plunging into the water, at a time when numer- 

 ous shoals of flying-fish were emerging from 

 the sea to evade the pursuit of the dolphins. 

 Yet the Fish-hawk never attempted to pursue 

 any of them while above the surface, but would 

 plunge after one of them or a bonitafish [bonito], 

 after they had resumed their usual mode of 

 swimming near the surface." 



AS TO DEMAND FOR FRESH FISH. 



It has been strenuously asserted that the 

 Osprey will not only never take a dead fish, but 

 will not even condescend to go after one that it 

 has dropped. Controversies have been held on 

 these points in weekly journals devi 'ted to sport, 

 as Forest and Stream. (See e. g - ., Volume vii, 

 p. 23. p. 27h. 337; viii. p. 1. 3. 4. 113. 224. 300.) 



Audubon "observed many of these birds at the 

 approach of winter, sailing over the lakes near 

 the Mississippi, where they feed on the fish 

 which the Wood Ibis kills, the Hawks them- 

 selves being unable to discover them while alive 

 in the muddy water with which these lakes are 

 filled. There the Ibises wade among the water 

 in immense docks, and so trample the bottom as 

 to convert the lakes into filthy puddles, in which 

 the fishes are unable to respire with ease. 

 They rise to the surface, and are instantly killed 

 by the Ibises. The whole surface is sometimes 



covered in this manner with dead fish, so that 

 not only are the Ibises plentifully supplied, but 

 Vultures, Eagles and Fishhawks come to parti- 

 cipate in the spoil." Audubon adds that "ex- 

 cept in such places," he had "not observed the 

 Fisbhawk to eat of any other prey than that 

 which it had procured by plunging headlong 

 into the water after it." 



Mr. S. C. Clark a well-known writer in Forest 

 and Stream (vii, 276), has narrated another inci- 

 dent. When fishing "on Halifax River" in 

 Florida he "caught a Seacat of three or four 

 pounds weight. It was killed in recovering the 

 hook." and was thrown overboard. "An ( isprey 

 saw and seized it; as he Hew away he was pur- 

 sued .mil robbed by an Eagle, who was watching 

 for booty from a tree top. This robber in turn 

 was attacked by another Eagle, who forced him 

 to drop the Ssh, which he carried aw.i\ out of 

 sight into the woods." 



SIZE OK PREY. 



The size of the fish taken is necessarily a very 

 variable quantity, the bird not stopping to mea- 

 sure a fish seen or its strength. Nauuiann. in 

 his Natural History of the Birds of Germany 

 (Naturgeschichte der Voegel Deutschlands), 

 very precise in everything, estimated the weight 

 to be between a quarter of a pound and 2', 

 pounds. It cannot well grasp a very small fish 

 and it is limited at the other extreme by its 

 ability to seize and carry. It has been fre- 

 quently seen, however, to capture and fly with 

 ,i fish bulkier than itself, that is. five or six 

 pounds or somewhat more in weight. 



The bird, it has been asserted, sometimes "will 

 strike a fish too large to lift; and in such case, 

 unless able to extricate its talons, it is dragged 

 under the surface again and again until it is 

 drowned. Professor Newton states that Mr. 

 Floyd records one having met with this fate; 

 ami Mr. Knox, mentions a case in which the 

 bird, having landed its prey, was unable to ex- 

 tricate its talons therefrom, and so Fell a victim 

 to the crook of a shepherd who li id nessed 



i he capture." 



Mr. Dresser saw an Osprey in the Bay of 

 Fundv "strike a fish which it was unable to 

 lift; and after being dragged bene i i the sur- 

 face time after time, and making every effort to 

 release itself, it was at length carried out and 

 disappeared." i Dresser B. E., vi. p. 14n. i 



Sometimes, at least, this inability to release 

 itsel f ma v !»■ the result of a nervous rather than 

 physical cause. At least the bii 1 experiences 

 no difficulty in surrendering ' - prey to assail- 

 ants in the form of birds as \ 11 as man. Mr. 

 Dresser himself experimented on a pair when 

 in New Brunswick, overlooking men in a ship- 

 yard. The Ospreys passed over the shipyard 

 "on their way from the shores of the Bay of 

 Fundy to their nest, which was situated at 

 some distance in the forest;" "several times" 

 he "fired at one with a rifle when it was carry- 

 ing a heavy fish, and sent the bullet close 

 enough to make it drop the fish." 



(To be Continued.) 



