100 BIRDS OF OHIO. 
of food until, either by the advancing season. or for other 
natural causes, the grasshopper crop is so lessened that they 
can no longer appease their hunger except by undue exer- 
tion. Then other kinds of insects and other forms of life 
contribute to their fare; and beetles, spiders, mice, shrews, 
small snakes, lizards or even small birds are required to 
bring up the balance.” (Fisher.) It therefore seems cer- 
tain that the farmer has no better friend than this little Fal- 
con. He may rarely exact toll in the form of chicken meat, 
but that should no more count against the whole group of 
Sparrow Hawks than an occasional chicken stealing cat 
should count against all cats. 
While this hawk nests in hollow trees in the woods, or 
more properly on the borders of woods preferably, it is more 
often seen in the open than in the woods, except when nest- - 
ing. It feeds in the open then but stays near home. 
136. (364.) PANDION HALIAETUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmel.). 
165. 
American Osprey. 
Synonyms: Pandion haliaetus, Falco haliaetus, Pandion carolin- 
ensis, Falco carolinensis. 
Fish Hawk, Osprey. 
Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 161. 
The Osprey is not common anywhere in the state, but it 
is likely to be present wherever fish are to be found near the 
surface of the water. It should breed at the large reser- 
voirs and lakes, but there are no such reports from those 
regions. It is found all summer at the lake shore, but I am 
not aware that a nest has actually been found. Rev. Mr. 
Henninger states that it occurs in Scioto and Pike counties 
during the winter and during the spring and autumn migra- 
tions in some numbers, feeding along the Scioto river. It 
visits the Oberlin water-works reservoir pretty regularly 
the first or second week in May, often tarrying for several 
days in the vicinity because the fish are so numerous and so 
easy to catch. 
The Osprey’s food is exclusively fish, almost always cap- 
