100 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



of food until, either by the advancing season, or for other 

 natural causes, the grasshopper crop is so lessened that they 

 can no longer appease their hunger except by undue exer- 

 tion. Then other kinds of insects and other forms of life 

 contribute to their fare; and beetles, spiders, mice, shrews, 

 small snakes, lizards or even small birds are required to 

 bring up the balance." (Fisher.) It therefore seems cer- 

 tain that the farmer has no better friend than this little Fal- 

 con. He may rarely exact toll in the form of chicken meat, 

 but that should no more count against the whole group of 

 Sparrow Hawks than an occasional chicken stealing cat 

 should count against all cats. 



While this hawk nests in hollow trees in the woods, or 

 more properly on the borders of woods preferably, it is more 

 often seen in the open than in the woods, except when nest- 

 ing. It feeds in the open then but stays near home. 



136. (364.) PANDION HALIAETUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmel.). 

 165. 



American Osprey.. 



Synonyms: Pandion haliaetus, Falco haliaetus, Pandion carolin- 



ensis, Falco carolinensis. 

 Fish Hawk, Osprey. 

 Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 161. 



The Osprey is not common anywhere in the state, but it 

 is likely to be present wherever fish are to be found near the 

 surface of the water. It should breed at the large reser- 

 voirs and lakes, but there are no such reports from those 

 regions. It is found all summer at the lake shore, but I am 

 not aware that a nest has actually been found. Rev. Mr. 

 Henninger states that it occurs in Scioto and Pike counties 

 during the winter and during the spring and autumn migra- 

 tions in some numbers, feeding along the Scioto river. It 

 visits the Oberlin water-works reservoir pretty regularly 

 the first or second week in May, often tarrying for several 

 days in the vicinity because the fish are so numerous and so 

 to catch. 



The Osprey's food is exclusively fish, almost always cap- 



