124 THE BIRDS OF COOKHAM AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
several pheasants were feeding. Theso suddenly began to show 
some signs of alarm, and a great many flew up quickly and took 
refuge within the cover. Before, however, they could all gain a 
place of safety, a large Eagle swept down upon an unfortunate 
individual, and carried him off. Mr. Briggs’s fellow-keeper at 
once set a trap near the place, and had the good fortune to 
capture the marauder three days afterwards. He proved to be a 
fine Golden Eagle, the only one, I believe, ever observed in the 
county. 
Pandion. 
2. Pandion haliceetus. The Osprey. 
In the Naturalist of November the 1st, 1864, I recorded the 
occurrence of the Osprey at Cookham. On the 6th of October in 
that year Mr. Briggs was engaged in the garden at Formosa, 
when his eye was attracted by the appearance of a large bird 
flying slowly along the outskirts of Lord Boston’s wood. As he 
stood watching, the bird sailed directly over to the spot where he 
stood and circled round his head at about the height of thirty 
yards, turning its eye downwards, and apparently taking stock of 
him. He called to one of the men near him to fetch his gun, 
but by the time it arrived, the Osprey was out ofthe reach of shot, 
and was pursuing its course down the river with the same easy and 
graceful flight. A gentleman, however, who was on the water, 
saw the bird approach, and shot it in the wing when it fell into the 
water and was killed with the boat-mop. For some days previous 
a large Hawk had been observed in the neighbourhood of Hedsor, 
and three days afterwards another Osprey was seen near the same 
place by aman named Stanniforth, who used to attend to the 
Lock at Cookham. ‘We heard that there was one killed about 
this time near Windsor, which we conclude was the above- 
mentioned bird, Similar instances have been recorded of the 
occurrence of the Osprey inland, and Mr. Harting in his interesting 
work on the ‘ Birds of Middlesex,’ has mentioned its appearance 
at Uxbridge in 1863, and again in 1865 at Southgate, where a 
pair remained for some days. 
