74 



THE OSPREY. 



rails, rotted to black mould in the center, but 

 kept up by the yearly addition of fresh rails. 

 Mr. Jerome said that to his knowledge this nest 



OSPREY NEST AT NARRAGANSETT HAY. 



had been occupied every year for forty years. 

 It likewise had been added to yearly until its 

 bulk of sticks, sods, cow dung", decayed wood, 

 seaweed, etc., would amount to at least three 

 cartloads, in addition to what had rotted and 

 fallen to the ground. The nest was only seven 

 or eight feet from the ground, so that by step- 

 ping" on a projecting rail I could readily see the 

 thne beautiful spotted eggs within, which I 

 promised not to disturb. Mr. Jerome could pass 

 close to the pile of rails without the birds leav- 

 ing the nest, while I could not get nearer than 

 thirty or forty feet. They would dive down 

 near my head, uttering a shrill cry, and at the 

 same time threateningly stretching out their 

 claws; and while living nervously about they 

 constantly uttered a sound resembling the call 

 of a young chicken or turkey when lost from 

 its mother. They would alight on the nest 

 again before I was fifty yards away." 



Capt. liendire has described "the most pictur- 

 esque nesting site of the Osprey" he ever saw. 

 It was at the American Falls of Snake River in 

 Idaho. "Right on the very brink of these, and 



about one-third of the way across, the seething 

 volume of water, confined here between frown- 

 ing' walls of basalt, was cleft in twain by a rocky 

 obstruction which had so far withstood the 

 ever eroding currents, and this was capped 

 with a slender and fairly tapering- column 

 of rock rising directly out of the "swirling' 

 and foaming whirlpool below them." 



A number of illustrations of nesting 

 places of the Osprey have already appeared 

 in the OSPREY magazine, and some of them 

 are here reproduced. 



Five of them represents nests in trees and 

 it will be seen that they have been built on 

 the summits of the trees or as hig'h up as 

 there was a basis of support. One repre- 

 sents a large nest at Gardiner's Island, pho- 

 tographed by Mr. Henry R. Buck, on a pro- 

 jecting branch li, 127); another a nest, also 

 at Gardiner's Island, in the crotch of a tree 

 a short distance below its summit (i, 128); a 

 third was photographed in Rhode Island. 

 (Narragansett Bay,) near the main summit 

 of a tree (i, 129) by Mr. H. S. Hathaway; a 

 fourth was also obtained in Narragansett 

 Bay in the top crotch of a tree (ii, 19). 



( hie pictures a site observed by Mr. J. H. 

 Clark with "a small part of the nest on top 

 of the rock to the rig lit of the live tree," 

 taken in the grand canyon of the Yellow- 

 stone (i, 141). It is only noteworthy as an 

 instance of preference evinced for a site 

 other than a tree. One illustrates a nest 

 built on the ground at the edge of a shallow 

 bank, that is, where there was a slope or 

 abrupt though slight descent by a portion 

 of the nest. This was taken by Mr. O. W. 

 Knight in Penobscot Hay. Maine, (iii, 75). 



An illustration of special provision for 

 the Osprey and which has been accepted by 

 the bird is given in another figure. A high 

 pole with a round platform at the summit 

 was planted at Bristol. (R. I.), and taken 

 possession of by a pair for their nest (ii,41). 



COMPOSITION OF NESTS. 



The nest is subject to even greater variations 

 than the site. The birds seem to have a curious 



OSPREY NEST ON ROCK BELOW, 



