THE OSPREY. 115 



the claws black and remarkably strong. The flight is 

 generally rather heavy ; but at times it can shoot along 

 with great majesty. 



It forms its nest on the tops of tall trees or cliffs 

 near the water, but never on the ground, as is stated by 

 some naturalists. The eggs are four or five, of a pale 

 yellow spotted with brown. 



The principal food is fish, in the catching of which 

 it shows very great intrepidity. When looking out for 

 prey, it hovers over the surface of the water, at a con- 

 siderable height, with its wings continually in motion ; 

 and when the prey appears, it darts down with so 

 much force, that it plunges fairly into the water to 

 the depth of a foot or two ; and then springs buoyant 

 to the surface, ascends the air, and soars off to a rest- 

 ing place in the woods or on the cliff, according to the 

 situation, dashing the spray from its feathers as it flies. 

 The fact of its being able to plunge into the water, 

 reascend and fly immediately, led some of the earlier 

 naturalists to conclude that one of its feet, at least, 

 must be webbed ; that, however, is not the case ; and 

 the only natural protection that it has from the effects 

 of the element in which it finds its food, consists in 

 the similarity of its feathers to those of the water-fowl. 

 Even the feathers upon its thighs are different from 

 those of the eagles and hawks ; they are short, close, 

 and compact, while those of the latter birds are long 

 and plumy. The osprey, though a powerful bird, is 

 not a handsome one. As both this and the sea-eagle 

 have got the name of the osprey, and some of the more 

 modern writers confine it to the one bird, and some to 

 the other, it is necessary to attend to the specific distinc- 



