212 



OSPREY. 



indeed in the Britisli Isles. Up in the Highlands, 

 far removed from the haunts of man, by the wild 

 mountain lochs, or amongst the bleak uplands, this 

 was where once the Osprey dwelt in considerable 

 numbers ; but now these numbers are thinned, and 

 we are fortunate if we can still say it breeds here. 

 " There are still one or two eyries in Inverness-shire 

 and Ross-shire, and also in Galloway," says Seebohm, 

 " a sufficient number of birds, if strictly preserved, to 

 retain the Osprey in the rank of a regular emigrant to 

 our island.'' 



The Osprey preys upon fish, as its name — the Fish 

 Hawk — implies. These it obtains hovering over the 

 water like a huge Kestrel, pausing with a beat or 

 two of the wings as it keenly watches the surface 

 beneath ; suddenly with a dip down to the water it 

 seizes its prey in its talons, and flies off to a neighbour- 

 ing rock to devour it. 



In America, where the Osprey is still plentiful, it is 

 said to build for the most part in trees ; but in this 



