40 THE HOME-LIFE OF 
summer previously—the year my friend photographed it. 
That autumn, it seems, during the burning of some under- 
brush, a part of the nest had been damaged by fire. The 
next spring the birds returned, and spent considerable 
time about their old home, attempting to put it in order. 
But for one reason or another they were not satisfied, and 
went off in search of a fresh site. At the time of my visit 
the ruin was occupied only by a couple of pairs of House- 
Sparrows, whose nests were built in the lower sticks. 
Knowing that there must be more nests in the neigh- 
bourhood, I started off in search, and had not walked two 
hundred yards before I spied another eyrie. It was 
conspicuously perched on an old dead pine, which stood 
on top of a ridge and commanded a broad view in two 
directions. Both old birds were at home, the female being 
on the nest and the male close by on a branch of the tree. 
In no pair of Ospreys have I ever seen the sexes more 
clearly differentiated, the breast of the female being heavily 
streaked with brown, and that of the male practically pure 
white. The female, too, was noticeably larger. 
As soon as they saw me the birds started to complain, 
and when I had approached within about thirty yards they 
both took wing with loud screams. I quietly seated myself 
at the foot of a tree and remained motionless, but the birds 
were evidently very much annoyed at my presence and 
continued to fly back and forth, plainly “ bending their 
eye’ upon me each time they passed. Their outcry was 
so great that two or three Osprey neighbours appeared, to 
see what the matter was, and circled about for awhile before 
passing on. I then changed my position and hid under 
a dense oak tree, where I was well screened by the trailing 
branches. Although actually nearer to the nest than before, 
I was much less conspicuous, and the female alighted at 
once on the perch, where the male had at first been 
standing. He had by this time disappeared. 
The nest, which was about twenty-five feet from the 
ground, is illustrated in Plates 14, 15, and 26. ‘The trees 
