520 



HUDSON-FULTON CELEBRATION 



THE HERRIN 



the Palisades, and then as now paid toll to the 

 Lord of the Air, who also nested there. Even 

 today they are abundant along the Shrewsbury 

 River, south of New York Bay ; but the bay it- 

 self no longer furnishes good fishing-ground for 

 them. 



The OsiDrey, or Fish-Hawk, is a bird of high- 

 ly interesting personalit}*. In the first place, 

 it represents a special development for fishing, 

 and in structure it is a sort of connecting link 

 between the Owls and the Falcons. It has legs 

 that are long and muscular, powerful talons, and 

 unusual wing-power. It thinks nothing of 

 dropping a hundred feet straight into ice-cold 

 water, seizing a fish nearly half its own weight, 

 and flying five miles with it. It is doubtful 

 whether any other bird can catch and bear away 

 fish so large in proportion to its own size. 

 I have seen Ospreys flying with fish so large — 

 always carried with the head pointing forward 

 — that the flight of so small a bird with so great 

 a load seemed almost incredible. It is no won- 

 der that a two-pound fish slowly sailing through 

 the air with an Osprey perched upon it offers a 

 temptation so great that an Eagle cannot al- 

 ways resist it ; for, like some human beings, the 



one thing that an Eagle cannot resist is temp- 

 tation. 



The nesting habits of the Osprey are extreme- 

 ly interesting. When not disturbed, the bird 

 uses the same nest, year after year, but each 

 year adds substantially to the structure. The 

 sticks used are large, and the nest soon reaches 

 a breadth and height out of all proportion to 

 the size of the builder. On Gardiner's Island, 

 at the eastern end of Long Island, the protec- 

 tion afforded the Ospreys nesting there soon 

 rendered the birds so tame and trustful that 

 they nested very low down, and finally iipoii the 

 ground. Some of the continuous-performance 

 nests constructed on that island are of enormous 

 proportions. 



Attempts have been made to colonize Ospreys 

 in the New York Zoological Park, but the birds 

 always flew away and failed to return. 



The White-Headed Eagle, or Bald Eagle, 

 still inhabits the Palisades, and may be seen 

 soaring high above the valley of the Hudson. 



When you observe a very large dark-colored 

 bird of prey traveling far aloft, with slow and 

 stately sweep of wings that are broad and short 

 and non-vulturine, it is fair to call it an Eagle. 

 If the head and tail have a gleam like frosted 



