THE OSPREY 231 



of brown passes from the beak down the sides 

 of the neck. The upper parts are brown ; the 

 breast is marked with brown, the under parts 

 being white. It feeds solely upon fish, hover- 

 ing over the shoals at a great height, and 

 dropping on them with incredible velocity. I 

 once, when at sea off the coast of Scotland, 

 had my attention attracted to some birds fishing 

 in this manner, and on my inquiring what descrip- 

 tion of birds they were, was informed that they 

 were ospreys. They were some two or three 

 miles distant from the vessel ; but as the sea was 

 unusually calm literally as smooth as glass I 

 could discern, even at that distance, the splash 

 of the water as they dived after their prey. My 

 informant assured me that they were ospreys, 

 but, from their numbers, I concluded that they 

 must have been gannets, ospreys being far too 

 uncommon on our coasts to be seen in such 

 quantity. 



It is much to be regretted that the fashion of 

 wearing the plumes of the osprey, the egrets, 

 and those of the smaller herons should obtain 

 favour. It is probably not generally known how 

 few of the feathers used as aigrettes are obtainable 

 from a single bird, and those only during the 

 breeding season. If the parent birds are thus 

 ruthlessly slaughtered at this period, what must 

 be the fate of their young ones, which are thus 

 deprived of their parents at a time when they are 

 unable to feed themselves ? 



