290 THE OSPREY. 



As the bird is a fish-eater, it is geDerally observed on the seacoast 

 or on the banks of some large river, but has occasionally been observed 

 in some comparatively waterless situation, where it has probably been 

 driven by stress of weather. In some parts of Scotland the Osprey 

 still holds its own, and breeds year after year on the same spot, gen- 

 erally choosing the summit of an old ruined building or the top of a 



large tree for that purpose. The 

 nest is a very large one, composed 

 almost wholly of sticks, and con- 

 tains two or three whitish eggs, 

 largely blotched with reddish 

 brown, the dark patches being 

 collected toward the large end 

 of the egg. As is the case with 

 the Eagles, the Osprey is mo- 

 nogamous ; but on the death of 

 either of the pair the survivor 

 The Osprey or Fish Hawk {Pandion ^^^^ f^^^^ another mate, and is 

 haliaetus). ^ • i ^ i i v 



straightway consoled by a new 



alliance. From all accounts it is an affectionate and domestic bird, 

 paying the greatest attention to its mate and home, and displaying a 

 constancy which is not to be surpassed by that of the turtle-dove, so 

 celebrated for matrimonial felicity. 



The flight of the Osprey is peculiarly easy and elegant, as might be 

 expected from a bird the length of whose body is only twenty-two inches 

 and the expanse of wing nearly five feet and a half. Living almost 

 wholly on fish, the Osprey sails in wide undulating circles, hovering 

 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 tliat 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 relin- 

 quish its hold, but, as if fearful that the fish should escape, continues 

 its grasp, and daintily picks away the flesh from betw^een its toes. 



Harmless though the Osprey be — except to the fish — it is a much 

 persecuted bird, being not only annoyed by rooks and crows, but rob- 

 bed by the more powerful white-headed Eagle. Mr. Thompson records 

 an instance where an Osprey, which had been fishing in Loch Kuthven, 

 was greatly harassed by an impertinent Royston crow, which attacked 

 the noble bird as soon as it had caught a fish, and, as if knowing that 



