EAGLES AND EAGLE-LIKE BIRDS. 153 



across tlie breast ; tail brown, with dark cross-bars ; 

 bill liooked and dark ; feet bluish. Principally 

 autumn migrant. 



Eggs. — 2—3, white or bufEsh-white, variable in 

 markings, but in the more perfectly marked speci- 

 mens blotched with brown of many rich shades, 

 principally at the larger end, and having underlying 

 patches of purple-gray ; 2*5 x 1 "8 inches (plate 127). 



Nest. — A pile of sticks, with turf and wool, placed 

 in a tree, on ruins, or on rocks surrounded by inland 

 waters. 



The Osprey, or Fishing Hawk, is another grand 

 bird whose extirpation from tlie British Islands man 

 may deplore or congratulate himself upon according 

 to his lights ; for it is too much to hope that the 

 protection now extended by a few landowners in 

 certain parts of Scotland to the remnant that still 

 breeds in our confines can repair the damage of 

 decades of savagery meted out to this fine creature. 

 Its habit is to nest in forest trees and upon rocks 

 within reach of its fishing waters ; for the bird preys 

 solely upon fish. Flying about at a moderate height 

 above the water, it stops at times to hover stationarily 

 with depressed tail in the manner of the Kestrel, and 

 upon sighting a fish near the surface, folds its wings 

 and throws itself down upon its prey with a splash, 

 gripping the fish in its claws. Afterward the Osprey 

 rises, shaking the water from its plumage, and makes 

 oflf to some convenient perch to devour its catch. The 

 Osprey — usually young birds — appears more generally 

 in this country during the winter montlis, when it 

 frequents inland waters and estuaries. By its fishing 



