124. PANDION HALIAETl/S. 



compact, and considerably shorter, than in eagles and 

 most other birds of the family, and those of the leg are 

 short all round, while most other species have a large 

 tuft of soft feathers on the outer side of the tibia. On 

 the upper parts, again, the plumage is not more compact 

 than in other species, there being no purpose to be an- 

 swered by such an arrangement. The structure of the 

 wing is peculiarly worthy of study. Hawks having 

 long wings, are commonly supposed to have a more ra- 

 pid flight than those with short wings ; but this is not 

 always the case, for the flight of the short-winged 

 sparrow-hawk is certainly as rapid as that of the longer- 

 winged kestrel. The osprey has very long wings, yet 

 its flight is not so rapid as that of the falcons. Length 

 of wing, then, is not of itself an indication of great 

 speed, so much as of the power of easy suspension in 

 the air, and of continued flight. The Osprey requires 

 to hover long over the waters, often over the open sea 

 at some distance from land, sometimes for hours to- 

 gether, before an opportunity of pouncing occurs. Its 

 form, therefore, is as light as is compatible with strength, 

 its wings long and unusually feathered, there being 

 more quills in them than in those of the eagles or other 

 hawks, while the tertiaries are moreover converted into 

 quills. Were the subject properly discussed agreeably 

 to the ideas of those writers who consider a fact or 

 two sufficient to occupy a page, it might be continued 

 through the next sheet ; but my method has usually 

 been to avoid verbosity and mere fine writing, than 

 which there cannot be a greater nuisance in natural 

 history. 



This bird is commonly named the Osprey, by orni- 



