52 SOUTHERN ESTUARIES 



to do so. The motive was a purely sporting instinct, 

 and the only form of protection would be for the 

 Hampshire County Council to pass a resolution for- 

 bidding ospreys to be shot ; the Dorsetshire Council 

 might do the same for their protection in Poole 

 Harbour further west. In the long lagoon of the 

 "Fleet," inside Chesil Bank, they are probably safe 

 enough, as most wild creatures are on the estates of 

 great proprietors. Of all the rarer creatures of Great 

 Britain, there is none that deserves protection more 

 than the osprey. It is unique alike in structure and in 

 habits ; the sole representative of its class among birds, 

 with strong affinities to the great fishing-owls of the 

 tropics, though itself a true hawk, high-couraged and 

 singularly friendly to man, and of a size and strength 

 approaching that of the eagles. The safe channels in 

 the Hampshire estuaries are marked out by a curious 

 and probably very ancient method of sea-marks called 

 " leather and twig." On one side are posts surmounted 

 with old leather buckets, or sometimes pieces of trace, 

 or a horse collar ; but the old buckets, being part of 

 the come-at-able refuse of ships' stores, are the com- 

 monest. To the stakes on the other side are fastened 

 old birch brooms, or branches of trees. As the posts 

 are far apart and the channels intricate, this rough 

 contrivance indicates which post is to be considered on 

 the right and which on the left of the channel. These 

 posts, often surrounded by hundreds of acres of water, 

 are the favourite perches of the osprey, and on them it 

 sits unconcerned, every now and again leaving its post 



