THE OSPREY. 9 
three hundred feet. When intent upon food, however, 
he usually works at a height between thirty and one hundred 
feet. Alternately flapping and sailing, he flies leisurely 
over the water, his head distinctly bent forward as he 
deligently scans the surface. Suddenly he pauses and 
hovers, on rapidly beating wings. His gaze is doubtless 
fixed upon a fish below, but for some reason, conditions 
are not favourable for a descent, and he passes on. Again 
his attention is arrested and his course checked. This time 
he drops to a lower level and starts for the water, only to 
veer off and fly away as though he had suddenly changed 
his mind. Probably the fish had sought a lower level at 
the last moment, and it was evident to the Osprey that 
a plunge would be futile. But finally the opportunity 
arrives. Hardly pausing in his flight, the Osprey drops 
like a plummet through the air, and, striking the surface 
of the water with a resounding splash, is obscured from 
sight in a mass of foam. Sometimes, indeed, he disappears 
for an instant altogether beneath the water. But imme- 
diately upon emerging, his broad wings are vigorously 
flapped, and he mounts into the air triumphantly bearing 
his prey in his talons; for when an Osprey once decides 
to plunge, he very seldom rises “ empty-handed.” 
In descending upon a fish, the Osprey drops with half- 
folded wings, and appears to strike the water with his breast ; 
the legs are then thrust downward with lightning rapidity, 
and the body is brought into a horizontal position. After 
grasping the fish he immediately starts to fly, often labori- 
ously at first and unsteadily, by reason of the strugglings 
of his victim. As soon as he has risen to a height of from 
eight to twelve feet, he invariably shakes the spray from 
his plumage by a convulsive quivering of his wings and 
body. For this brief instant his momentum is checked, 
and he falls perhaps as much as four or five feet. After 
quivering once or twice a bird will sometimes lose so much 
altitude that the fish is nearly dragging in the water, and 
he is compelled again to resume flight. Then, perhaps, 
