486 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



huge plaice. The bird rose with its prey, but the 

 fish's weight was too great and dragged down the 

 hawk. Several times the osprey struggled to 

 ascend, but failed and at length became exhausted, 

 and fell into the water still clinging to its captive. 

 The bird's talons were so embedded in the fish that 

 it could not release them and it was drowned. The 

 fish also died and both were washed ashore, and 

 with difficulty were separated. 



Such stories are common and I never placed 

 much confidence in them until I saw a hawk again 

 and again pulled under water by a big fish in Yel- 

 lowstone Lake. The osprey several times lifted 

 the fish from the water, but such was its weight 

 that the bird could only succeed in carrying the 

 fish a few yards at a time ; at length, the prey was 

 allowed to drop again in the waves and the ex- 

 hausted bird had just sufficient strength left to 

 reach the shore where it literally fell upon a dead 

 limb of a small tree. 



Unless sea food is plenty and handy do not at- 

 tempt to add fish-hawks to your back-yard zoo. 



There are other birds which in their wild state 

 use fish and aquatic animals for their diet, which 

 may be taught to live upon scraps from the table. 



A BLACK-CRESTED NIGHT HERON 



that lived in the same coop with a crow 

 in my back-yard, developed an appetite for 

 ham skins and fat pork, great slices of 

 which it would gulp down to the amusement 



