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OSPREYS are very large birds often 

 ncorrectly called "Sea Eagles" and very 

 frequently mistaken for real eagles, 

 which birds, however, are never white 

 on the under parts in any plumage. 



Ospreys sail majestically along the 

 courses of streams or over bays, at an 

 elevation of a hundred feet or so, their 

 keen yellow eyes searching the waters 

 beneath. If a fish is spied near the sur- 

 face the fisher bird hovers on beating 

 wings until the quarry is in just the 

 light position, then folds them to his 

 sides and drops like a plummet, head- 

 first. Just above water, the long legs 

 are extended in front before his face 

 and with a mighty plunge he disappears 

 from view; in a few seconds he reap- 

 pears holding a struggling victim in 

 his talons; a vigorous shake of the 

 great wings sheds most of the water 

 and he carries the prize away to his 

 nesting or feeding tree. It is a wonder- 

 ful sight and one that a person never 

 tires of watching. Their nests are 

 bulkj^ structures of sticks on dead 

 trees or sometimes on the ground. 



has tiny ear tufts, is of a yellowish buff color and the under 

 parts are marked in streaks. Long-eared Owls nest most 

 often in old crow nests, while the Short-eared species builds 

 on the ground. The latter species does most of its hunt- 

 ing just at dusk about the edges of marshes. 



Our Hawks and Eagles vary greatly in size from the 

 diminutive Sparrow Hawk to the gigantic Bald Eagle. 

 With very few exceptions it has been found that they are 

 of economic importance, as they feed almost wholly on 

 rodents and insects. 



BALD EAGLES are rare and very locally distributed 

 in our range, chiefly near the coast or about large lakes. 

 These great birds have an expanse of wing between six 

 and seven and a half feet, the year old birds being the 

 largest. For the first three years they are brownish black 

 all over, attaining the white head and tail only when four 

 years old. They feed to some extent upon ducks, rabbits, 

 etc., bnt the greater part of their food is fish which have 

 been cast up on the shore. They catch some fish from fish 

 weirs and also rob Ospreys of their booty. Taken alto- 

 gether they can more appropriately be regarded as scav- 

 engers than as birds of prey. Their true lives arc far dif- 

 ferent from what many believe after reading lurid accounts 



