HABITS OF THE OSPREY. 37 



over the water and intently watching for its prey. No sooner does a fish come into view 

 than the Osprey shoots through the air like a meteor, descends upon the luckless fish with 

 such force that it drives a shower of spray in every direction, and soon emerging, flies away to 

 its nest, bearing its prey in its grasp. In order to enable it to seize and retain so slippery a 

 creature as a fish, the claws of the Osprey are long, curved, and very sharp, the soles of the 

 feet are rough, and the outer toe is capable of great versatility. When the bird has settled 

 upon its nest, or upon any spot where it intends to eat its prey, it does not relinquish its hold, 

 but, as if fearful that the fish should escape, continues its grasp, and daintily picks away the 

 flesh from between its toes. 



Sometimes in making its swoop it arrests itself for a second or two, as if to watch some 

 change of position on the part of its intended prey. 



The singular beauty of the Osprey' s flight attracted the attention of M. de Quatrefages, 

 who remarked, that the bird was able with outstretched and immovable wings, not only to 

 withstand the power of a "squall" that would have flung a man to the ground, but even to 

 work its way against the wind. How this feat was performed he confesses to be a mystery to 

 him, and that the so-called scientific theories of "acquired velocity" or "tremulous move- 

 ment " of the wings could not at all account for the phenomenon which he observed. 



When unmolested by human foes, the Osprey is a bold bird, as may be seen from the 

 following little anecdote, related by Mr. D'Ewes in his " Sporting in both Hemispheres." " I 

 observed an Osprey, or fishing Eagle, hovering about the river some distance down stream, as 

 if he were regarding my movements with much curiosity. Having caught a small barbel, per- 

 haps a little less than a pound in weight, and extricated the hook with some difficulty, some- 

 thing induced me to throw him back again, as not worth taking, which I did with a sharp 

 jerk, sending him some distance into the middle of the stream. In the space of a few moments, 

 and a hundred yards downwards, I saw the Osprey make a sudden swoop, a dive, and soar 

 aloft with the fish in his mouth no doubt my identical barbel, which, puzzled with his sudden 

 change of circumstances, and not having regained vigor and instinct sufficient to seek his usual 

 haunts, had floated down stream, and became an easy victim to his destroyer." 



In Southern America it is very common, and has been well described by Wilson, Audu- 

 bon, and other well-known writers, to whom we can but refer for the present. The bird is 

 held in great favor, and protected by common consent, so that any one who shot a fish-hawk 

 would draw down upon himself the anger of the person who constituted himself its protector. 

 The bird is in the habit of building its nest upon the roofs of houses, and is thought to bring 

 good luck to the household which it selects as its protectors. There is a good reason for the 

 love which the fishermen bear towards the Osprey, as it is the harbinger of their best seasons, 

 and by its headlong sweeps after the bass and other fish intimates that their nets may be 

 successfully employed. 



Harmless though the Osprey be except to the fish it is a most persecuted bird, being 

 not only annoyed by rooks and crows, but robbed by the more powerful white-headed Eagle. 

 Mr. Thompson records an instance where an Osprey, which had been fishing in Loch Ruthven, 

 was greatly harassed by an impertinent Eoyston crow, which attacked the nobler bird as soon 

 as it had caught a fish, and, as if knowing that it was incapable of retaliation, actually struck 

 it while on the wing. The Osprey kept quietly on its way, but was so wearied by the repeated 

 attacks of the crow, that when pursued and pursuer had vanished out of sight, the poor Osprey 

 had not been able to commence his repast. 



How this species is robbed by the white-headed Eagle, who strikes the Osprey on the 

 wing, and snatches from the poor bird the results of his morning's labors, is well known 

 through the graphic descriptions of Wilson and Aiidubon. The passages in which this 

 thievish habit is recounted are so familiarly known, and have been so frequently quoted, that 

 I prefer merely to mention them, and to insert in the present pages another account of the 

 same proceedings, written also by an eye-witness. 



" The bald Eagle, who is a sort of omnipresent predator wherever the primeval nature 

 holds her own upon the continent, makes his appearance sometimes suddenly on his wide- 



