Robbers of the Air 



kind on an island in the middle of a Highland loch and 

 found it thickly caked with fish scales. 



Occasionally a most tragic fate overtakes this bold 

 fisherman. It has been known to strike a large salmon, 

 and, unable to extricate its curved claws from the back 

 of the victim, to be dragged down and drowned by the 

 agonized fish. 



Many years ago I was curious to know how an 

 osprey carried a large fish along in its talons, so sat 

 down and watched for three days on end an eyrie con- 

 taining well-grown young ones. At last I was grati- 

 fied by seeing one of the adult birds bring along a fish 

 heavy enough to tax its wing powers to what appeared 

 to be their uttermost limit. Instead of the prey being 

 held crosswise, as I expected, it was grasped by the 

 bird's feet, one in front of the other. The head of the 

 fish was thus pointing in the same direction as that of its 

 captor, thereby reducing wind resistance to a minimum. 

 Macgillivray was, I believe, the first naturalist to notice 

 this eminently sensible method of carrying a large fish, 

 and moving pictures taken by my brother on Gardner's 

 Island, where the osprey is strictly preserved by the 

 United States Government, show clearly the wisdom 

 of the bird, especially whilst flying against a strong 

 breeze. 



The sparrow-hawk is one of the best-known robbers 

 of the air in our land, for it is more or less common in 

 every well-wooded part of the United Kingdom. It is 

 a merciless marauder, and will strike down and kill any 

 defenceless bird from a teal to a tomtit. Instead of 



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