BIRDS OF INDIANA. 799 



Eggs, 2-o', creamy- white or buffy- white, blotched and spotted with 

 brown and vinaceous red; 2.44 by 1.77. 



Locally summer resident; regular migrant, and some winters rare 

 winter resident in the southern part of the State. 



The winter of 1880-81 they were seen a number of times along 

 the Whitewater (E. E. Quick), and have been noted other years. 

 Along the Wahash Eiver, it has been observed in winter as far up as 

 Lafayette (Moffitt),and it was also noted in Putnam County, the winter 

 of 1888 (Clearwaters). Usually they begin, when not found in win- 

 ter, to appear upon our larger streams with the disappearance of the 

 ice, generally in February. The greater number of them, however, 

 are seen in April, in the Whitewater Valley, between April 2 and 

 29. In the fall they begin to appear there by September 6, and are 

 sometimes common until October 7. Mr. V. H. Barnett saw one in 

 Vermillion County, August 31, 1897. 



In the vicinity of Michigan City, it is abundant along the lake in 

 summer (Byrkit). 



Mr. Ruthven Deane saw it in Starke County, June 10, 1888. Mr. 

 T. H. Ball says they formerly nested along the Kankakee, and a few 

 yet remain. Mr. Robert Ridgway informs me of its breeding in 

 Knox and Gibson counties. In the spring of 1893, Mr. Joseph F. 

 Honacker reports finding a nest, a short distance below Lafayette. 

 They will probably be found, by persistent investigators, to breed in 

 other parts of the State. 



Mr. H. W. McBride found them in Steuben, Lagrange and Elk- 

 hart counties early in May, 1891, and in Dekalb County, May 12, 1890. 

 They breed commonly along the coast, and not so numerously in the 

 interior, as far north as Labrador, Hudson Bay and the Yukon, in 

 Alaska. It generally builds its nests on the top of trees, but some- 

 times on or in cliffs, and on the ground. The same nest is occupied 

 for years. The eggs are deposited at intervals of one or two days, 

 and the period of incubation is given as 21 days, but Maj. C. E. Ben- 

 dire thinks it is nearer 28. A single brood is raised in a season, 

 though other sets may be laid if the first one is destroyed. In this 

 latitude they nest from about April 25 to -June. The Osprey is com- 

 monly called Fish Hawk, or Fishing Eagle. 



Its food consists entirely of fish, which it usually captures. It is 

 a famous fisher, catching food not only for itself, but often for the 

 Bald Eagle, which robs it of its catch. Mr. Chas. S. Shick, of New 

 Jersey, says: "It is interesting to watch the Fish Hawk obtaining its 

 food, sailing along from 50 to 100 feet above the water; with its keen 

 eyes it can easily see any fish swimming close to the surface of the 



