5 6 SOUTHERN ESTUARIES 



darker line round the neck which gave her the appear- 

 ance of wearing a cowl her pure white breast, and the 

 long, hair-like feathers of the upper part of the body 

 blown picturesquely about by the wind. She generally 

 sat quiet on the nest, gazing round, now readjusting 

 the bleached sticks of her nest, then changing her 

 attitude to settle down in watchful repose. The 

 extraordinary devotion of so wild a creature to the 

 trying duties of motherhood was most impressive. She 

 seldom left the nest day or night, being supplied with 

 necessary nourishment by her loving and unwearied 

 partner." Of the male bird the same observer writes : 

 " We saw the male bird approaching high in the air 

 from the south. He swept round in narrowing circles, 

 and finally settled on the nest beside his mate. While 

 on the wing he showed nothing in his talons, which 

 were hidden in the longer feathers beneath ; but he 

 came not empty-handed, for he laid on the broad edge 

 of the nest a shining fish, and this the hen proceeded at 

 once to consume. . . . His behaviour to his wife was 

 at all times modest, dignified, and attentive, as befitted a 

 bird of quiet tastes, good character, and aquiline rank." 

 It is difficult, indeed, not to feel a grudge against the 

 selfish egg-collectors, whose greedy agents ruin all the 

 hopes of such patterns of animal happiness and duty. 

 The ten years of unbroken peace in this highland home 

 were broken by a tragedy which was due, not to human 

 molestation, but to a curious and inexplicable family 

 feud among the ospreys themselves, which has once 

 more left the eyrie on the castle desolate. In the April 



