FROM SPAIN. 49 



it is so abundant in the ISalzkammergut. There the Traun, 

 Wolfgang, Mond, and Atter lakes are its favourite haunts, 

 and it usually builds on the cliffs which rise straight above 

 the water. Every year there are several nests at the Traunsee, 

 one or two quite close to the lake, the others in a narrow 

 valley which runs between the well-known Traunstein and 

 the rocky Gassenkegel, and which keeps decreasing in width 

 until it finally becomes a mere ravine among the ragged 

 chamois mountains. There the nests are situated in the 

 abrupt precipices high above the region of the trees; and 

 some years ago, when out after chamois in August, I saw 

 several young Ospreys circling together round the lofty 

 pinnacles of the rocks. 



The birds that live on the Traunsee make regular excur- 

 sions along the shores of the lake, where one frequently sees 

 them close to the steamer. They also fly daily and with 

 absolute punctuality up and down the Traun, often ascending 

 the river almost as far as Ischl. Every year one could easily 

 shoot several of them from the Ebensee road, for they come 

 from the luke to hunt in the river at the same time every 

 day. 



It is beautiful to see the active Osprey hovering like a 

 hawk high above the water, and keeping in a fixed position, 

 as if held by a charm, until it suddenly plunges into the 

 foaming mountain-stream with such arrowy speed that the 

 water closes over it, and the next moment it flies off with a 

 slim trout in its claws. 



Nor is it only on the large rivers that the Osprey hunts, 

 but it also seeks its prey in the very narrow valleys of the 

 high mountains, especially during migration. In April, for 

 example, I once found it busily catching fish on the Murz 

 in the Murzthal, not far from Neuberg. In Spain I never 



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