THE AMERICAN OSPREY. 417 
Z No. 187. 
AMERICAN OSPREY. 
f 
vA. O. U. No. 364. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmel.). 
Synonym.—l'isuo Hawk. 
Description.—Adu/t male: Upper parts plain fuscous ; tip of wing blackish ; 
tail cressed by six or eight dusky bands; head white, heavily but narrowly streaked 
with blackish; an irregular dusky band proceeding backward from eye; feathers 
of occiput loosely ruffled, or presenting a crested appearance; under parts white, 
sometimes rufous-spotted on breast, but usually immaculate; lining of wing mot- 
tled—white and fuscous near edge, remainder white or buffy, dusky-barred dis- 
tally; bill and claws black; cere and base of bill bluish black; feet bluish gray ; 
iris yellow and red. Adult female: Similar but breast heavily marked with yel- 
lowish brown or fuscous. Jmmature: Like adult, but feathers of upper parts 
bordered terminally with white or buffy. ‘The same distinction obtains between 
the sexes as in case of adults. Length 21.00-25.00 (533.4-635.) ; wing 17.00-20.50 
(431.8-520.7) ; tail 7.00-10.00 (177.8-254.) ; culmen 1.20-1.40 (30.5-35.6). 
Recognition Marks.—Brant size; extensive white contrasting with fuscous, 
distinctive; labored flight; river- and lake-haunting ways. 
Nest, an immense mass of sticks, broad-topped, lined centrally with bark- 
strips and soft materials; placed centrally on top of trees of various heights, or 
on isolated rocks of rivers, etc. Eggs, 2-4, dull or buffy white, heavily spotted, 
blotched, or overspread with chocolate; rarely almost or quite unmarked. Av. 
SAS, Qa oe ish (OA s< A))) 
General Range.—North America from Hudson Bay and Alaska south to 
the West Indies and northern South America. Breeds throughout its North 
American range. 
Range in Ohio.—Not uncommon locally,—about the reservoirs and on Lake 
Erie. Rare or unknown elsewhere. Chiefly summer resident. Sparingly resi- 
dent in winter in the extreme south. 
ALONG the sea coast, up the large rivers, and wherever there are con- 
siderable bodies of water, the Fish Hawks are to be found more or less com- 
monly according to the treatment which they have received at the hand of 
man. ‘They are simple-hearted, honest folk, and deserve protection, if for 
no other reason, because they are fishermen. They are, however, cruelly per- 
secuted in many sections of the country, and have been almost exterminated 
in this state; but to my mind it is a mighty mean sportsman who will begrudge 
a poor bird the taking of a few fish by methods not less sportsmanlike than 
his own. 
The Osprey feeds exclusively upon fish and covers long stretches of water 
in its tireless search. It flies along at a height of fifty or a hundred feet above 
the water, and when its finny prey is sighted, pauses for a moment on hovering 
wings, then drops with a resounding splash, often quite disappearing beneath 
