56 BRITISH BIRDS. 
lands, and in Jreland the Osprey is only known as an extremely rare 
straggler, appearing at long and uncertain intervals. Its occurrence in 
England is usually confined to the period of the spring and autumn 
migrations. It has been obtained more or less frequently in almost every 
maritime county, and, more rarely, as far inland as Oxfordshire and Shrop- 
shire. Mr. Cordeaux informs me that “in the autumn of last year no 
less than nine occurrences of the Osprey were recorded from the east coast 
of England between the Tees and the Thames, from the last week in 
September through October—viz. 1 Durham, 1 Yorkshire, 3 Lincolnshire 
(2 immature, 1 adult female on the 15th of October), 2 Norfolk, and 2 near 
London.” 
The Osprey breeds throughout the Palearctic and Nearctic Regions, 
nearly as far north as the limit of forest-growth. It is a migratory bird, 
leaving at least all the northerly parts of its range in autumn. It winters 
in South Europe and North Africa, where a few remain to breed in very 
favourable localities. It has once been recorded from Natal. In Asia it 
winters south of the Himalayas, occasionally straying as far as New 
Zealand and some of the Pacific islands. On the American continent it 
winters in Central America (where a few remain to breed) and the West 
Indies, occasionally wandering as far south as Brazil. 
Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgeway attempt to separate the Ospreys 
of America and Australia as local races under the respective names of var. 
carolinensis and var. leucocephalus ; but the characters given are so slight 
and so ill-defined that they are more likely to be individual than 
climatic. 
Years ago, before the railway had joined the Highland solitudes with 
southern industry, before such attention was given to the preservation of 
game and the destruction of “ vermin,” the Osprey dwelt amongst the 
mountain-lochs, or on the brown heathlands studded thickly with stunted 
fir and birch trees. Now his haunts, which are only few and far between, 
appear to be the dense pine-forests that clothe the steep and rocky hill- 
sides, or away lower down the slopes in the broad stretches of bog-land, 
thinly sprinkled with timber, and overgrown with green and treacherous 
moss and rushes, amongst stagnant pools almost concealed by the luxuriance 
of dank and tangled masses of water-plants and coarse grass. Here and 
there in these situations, amongst the huge rocks and steep precipitous 
glens pierced by mountain-torrents and strewn with tempest relics of 
fallen pine and birch trees, the Osprey may sometimes be seen reposing 
or digesting his meal. Here, on these strictly preserved estates, the 
Osprey is a regular visitor in the summer months, and bids fair, with the 
aid of the protection now afforded it, to restate itself in the home of its 
ancestors. His haunt, however, by reason of the peculiar nature of his 
sustenance, must always be near the waters—cither the large freshwater 
