OSPREY— FISH HAWK. 91 



Both Wilson and Audubon considered tlie American and ' 

 European Osprey to be identical. 



Sp. Char. Adult. Head and entire under parts \yhite ; stripe through the eyes, top of the 

 head, and upper parts of the body, wings and tail, deep 'Vr-brown, the tail with eight bands of 

 blackish-brown ; breast with numerous cordate and circular spots of pale yellowish-brown. 



Bill and claws bluish-black ; tarsi and toes greenish-yellow. 



Young. Similar, but with the upper plumage edged and tipped with pale brownish, nearly 

 white. .Spots on the breast more numerous and darker colored. 



Length, 23.00 to 25.00 ; extent, 64.00 to 68.00 ; wing, 19.00 to 21.00 ; tail, 9.00 to 10.50. 

 Iris yellow ; tail black ; feet greenish yellow. 



Mr. Sharpe, of the British Museum, remarks that the tail of 

 the Osprey becomes more uniform brown with age, so that a 

 strongly barred tail is a sure sign of immaturity. 



With this species I terminate my review of the F.vlconid.e 

 or Diui'iNAL Birds of Prev. In all, some fifteen or perhaps si.x- 

 teen species have been enumerated as inhabiting Canada, and I 

 do not anticipate further additions. Much, however, has yet to 

 be learned respecting the immature forms of many of these, and 

 further information on the nidification of nearly all of them, ac- 

 companied by accurate descriptions of the number, size, color and 

 general markings of the eggs, is a special desideratum. According 

 to Mr. Sharpe's recent " Catalogue of the Birds of the British 

 Museum," the total number of species of Diurnal Birds of Prey 

 at present known amounts to 377 ; of these about 23, he says, are 

 doubtful or problematical ; 326 are represented in the collection 

 of the museum. 



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