68 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



its slippery prey. It is not common, but is 

 met with in Scotland, and occasionally on our 

 English coasts. 



The manner in which the osprey seeks its prey, 

 and its mode of obtaining it, are admirably de- 

 scribed by the ornithologists of America, in which 

 country this bird abounds. On one island near 

 the eastern extremity of Long Island, New York, 

 three hundred nests were counted. The old birds 

 were rearing their young close together, living 

 as peaceably as so many rooks, and were equally 

 harmless in reference to other smaller birds. 

 When looking out for its prey, the osprey sails 

 with great ease and elegance in curved and undu- 

 lating lines, at a considerable height above the 

 water, from whence it precipitates itself upon its 

 quarry ; and not unfrequently, on the fish moving 

 to too great a depth, stops suddenly in its descent, 

 and hovers for a few seconds in the air, suspending 

 itself in the same spot by a quick flapping of its 

 wings. It then makes a second, and generally 

 unerring, dart upon its prey, and regains its 

 former altitude by an elegant spiral flight. 



The poet-naturalist, Wilson, gives a spirited de- 

 scription of the manner in which the eagle of 

 America, which is remarkable for his great par- 

 tiality to fish, turns the industry of the osprey to 

 his own account by robbing it of its prey. He 



