320 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



1 10. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmelin). 



AJIERICAN OSPREY. 



Falco carolinensis Gmelin, Systema Naturae, i, i, 1788, 363. 



Pandion haliaetus var. carolinensis Ridgway, Proceedings Academy Natural Sci- 

 ences Philadelphia, December, 1870, U3. 



(B U, C 360, R 425, C 530, U 364.) 



Geographical range : Temperate and tropical America in general ; north to 

 Hudson Bay and Alaska. 



The American Osprey, commonly called the Fish Hawk, breeds in suit- 

 able localities throughout the entire United States, and beyond our borders 

 as far north as Labrador, the shores of Hudson Bay, and in the interior of 

 British North America, Avliere it has been found on the Mackenzie River, 

 near the Great Slave Lake, by Mr. B. R. Ross, in about latitude 62°; but 

 inasmuch as that careful observer, Mr. R. MacFarlane, failed to notice it in 

 the Anderson River and Barren Ground regions, it is questionable if it 

 occurs farther north there. In Alaska it is well known to attain a consid- 

 erably higher latitude, its eggs having been secured at Fort Yukon by Mr. 

 J. Lockhart, as well as b}'- Messrs. S. Jones and J. Sibbiston on other points 

 of the Yukon River, in about latitude 67°. 



Ill these northern regions, as well as throughout the greater part of the 

 United States, it is only a summer resident, arriving along the shores of the 

 Chesapeake Bay aliout the middle of March and correspondingly later north- 

 ward. In Florida and the Gulf States it is a constant resident. In many 

 localities the Osprey may be said to breed in colonies, numbers of them nest- 

 ing in close proximity to each other. 



Mr. W. W. Worthington, well known as a close and accurate observer, 

 writes me as follows: "Almost invariably on the 20tli day of March the Osprey 

 arrives at Long Island and is reckoned as the lirst harbinger of the breaking up 

 of winter and of settled spring weather. At first a solitary individual will be 

 seen circling slowly over some creek, in eager search of his first finny meal in 

 his summer home. In a few days they become abundant and at once set to 

 work to repair any damage their nests may have received from the previous 

 Avinter blasts, for tliey occupy the same nests year after year. 



"At Plum Island, where there are not enough suitable trees to go around, 

 many pairs nest on the ground, on the tops of sand dunes, in such cases depos- 

 iting the eggs on the sand, the nest consisting of a few sticks, bunches of sea- 

 weed, and pieces of various kinds of rubbish arranged in a circle. In other 

 cases the nests are built up several feet, the height in all probability being 

 regulated by the number of years the nest has been occupied and the amount 

 added to it from year to year. In all other localities where I have observed 

 these birds breeding, they nest in trees, both in deep woods and exposed situa- 

 tions, excepting in a few instances, where an unusual nesting place was chosen, 



