THE OSPREY. 



105 



THE OSPREY OR FISH HAWK; ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS.— VI. 



By Theodore Gill, Washington, D. C. 



Continued from I 'ol. 1 '. />. u;. 



"They fish for the most part in the creeks 

 and secluded inlets, hovering' over the waters 

 and suddenly capturing their victim by diving 

 upon it. But they sometimes come over the 

 open waters of the bays. and. when the keys 

 are covered with trees, over the gulf, to find 

 their food. On first acquaintance their actions 

 seemed inexplicable. I could not account for 

 their eccentric ways. While in the hidden 

 places of the creeks they utter no cry, and seem 

 to be efficient masters of the craft, but in the 

 open they vacillate painfully. They are large, 

 active-winged birds, never soaring, are quite 

 strong, and weigh about six or seven pounds. 

 On leaving the trees lining the shore, perhaps 

 allured by a school of mullet in the channel, 

 they seem eager for action, and all alive with 

 expectation, but just before stooping on the fish 

 would set up a frightened, discordant scream, 

 and make for the shore with a haste so ill- 

 advised as seriously to impede progress. Before 

 the trees were reached, confidence would be res- 

 tored, and running, the same singular perform- 

 ance would be repeated, perhaps for three or four 

 times before the game was finally secured. No 

 enemy was in sight. The breeze would flow 

 gently. All was serene, yet terror would take 

 possession of the bird and almost paralyze its 

 efforts by making it frantic." He "soon learned 

 the reason for this cowardice." He saw a "hawk- 

 cross overhead and proceed seaward to find a 

 dinner. The excursion was successful as the 

 pass swarmed with fish coming in with the tide. 

 A fine one soon left its element and swung aloft 

 into the air in the talons of the bird, which at 

 once began its return. But a new-comer ap- 

 peared upon the scene. A black creatine which 

 seemed all wings and shaped like a flattened 

 letter M, dropped from above and confronted 

 the Hawk, which at once dropped its prey and 

 screamed so brimful of mortal terror that it 

 should have excited the sympathy of all living 

 things within the compass of its sound. It was 

 not disturbed by actual contact. The two birds 

 were not within fifty feet of each other, but the 

 Hawk exerted itself with the same wild energy 

 to get to cover which I had before so often wit- 

 nessed when no black monster was in the vici- 

 nage. The intruder was a Frigate-bird, and 

 upon looking upwards a score of them could be 

 seen a mile or more from the earth, floating 

 round and round, on motionless wings. The 

 dropped fish was seized in the beak of the bird 

 long before it reached the water." 



Again, returning to the locality after an ab- 

 sence of some weeks, he "found the black out- 

 lines of the Frigate-birds against the sky as 

 usual, and soon saw the inevitable Hawk over 

 the waters of the pass all excitement at the 

 prospect of a dinner. It was the beginning of 

 March, and in that month the sea-breezes of the 

 vicinity are particularly delightful. It is also 

 the breeding season of the birds when their 

 plumage is at its best, and they show to best 



advantage. Success always followed any well 

 directed effort of a bird to catch a fish in Boca 

 Grande pass, and the Hawk soon had one. A 

 black corsair at once appeared and captured the 

 booty as on the former occasion, while the 

 frightened fisher fled screaming' towards the 

 land. But now a change of programme took 

 place. Another long-winged creature from the 

 group above appeared in front of and facing the 

 frightened Hawk which turned seaward at once, 

 mingling its note of terror with one ol dispair. 

 Every effort to side off towards home was frus- 

 trated by the gliding terror interposing its bulk- 

 in the intended direction, until the victim 

 seemed to accept the inevitable and made an 

 attempt to cross the gulf. The tormenting 

 enemy then seemed content, and swung alolt 

 among its companions. The poor fisherman, 

 rid of the dire presence, wheeled on its course 

 for home, and its frenzied flappings relieved of 

 excessive tension, made very good time, when 

 on reaching' the very brink of safety the black 

 wings again appeared and the whole distressing 

 business was re-enacted with increasing despair 

 in the frightened cry. This went on for more 

 than half an hour. Ever) effort at retreat was 

 intercepted. During all the time the Hawk kept 

 up an incessant flapping of its wings, audits 

 physical endurance was giving way under the 

 protracted strain. This was apparent from the 

 changing tone of its scream, which varied 

 through all the gamut of despair, from unrea- 

 soning terror, to supplicating misery." 



"The Frigate-bird at length seemed impatient. 

 It more promptly answered the movements of the 

 Hawk, and urged compliance with greater vigor, 

 and finally introduced a new feature into the pro- 

 ceedings. Swooping upwards for one hundred 

 feet it turned head foremost, and plunged be- 

 neath the Hawk, turning completely over as it 

 did so. and passing to the front vaulted upwards, 

 and down again in the same path, thus describ- 

 ing an elliptical orbit around its victim. It 

 swung near the Hawk round the lower curve, 

 causing upward flight, until at length in an ex- 

 hausted condition it was introduced into the 

 company of its tormentors which had been 

 descending from high levels and were now 

 about four hundred yards above the water. Its 

 strength was now well nigh exhausted. Its cry 

 was scarcely audible, and it barely had the 

 power of directing its movements. In which- 

 ever way it went, excepting one, a black terror 

 confronted it. It could rise unimpeded, but 

 found resistance to every other course. It 

 struggled upwards for some four hundred yards 

 further, until the distance was so great as to 

 make it difficult to keep the movements in the 

 field of the glass, when it gave up the task, and 

 rapidly floundered over and over through the air. 

 its muscular power exhausted, and its mass sur- 

 rendered to the gravitating force. Down it 

 came, the whole half-score of enemies circling 

 about it. until it struck the water near the beach 



