Habits of Ospreys 233 



Fish-Hawks are very peacefully inclined birds. So tolerant are they at the 

 presence of other birds that they permit Grackles and Night Herons to nest 

 unmolested in the interstices of their great nests. They subsist almost entirely 

 on fish, which they capture themselves, and only when hard pushed by hunger 

 will they take dead fish. Occasionally they may kill another bird, and in some 

 parts of their range, especially in the lower Mississippi Valley, they seem to be 

 particularly fond of snakes. The kinds of fish taken are apparently of little 

 moment to them, but they are principally those species which come near to the 

 surface. Along the coasts they take shad, alewives, menhaden, and mullets, 

 while in inland waters suckers, catfish, salmon, trout, and white perch form 

 perhaps the chief items of diet. Their manner of fishing is rather peculiar, 

 and quite different from that pursued by other fish-catching birds of prey, or 

 even of fish-catching birds in general. One may be seen winging its way slowly 

 over the water, keeping a keen watch for any fish that may be near the surface. 

 " When one is observed," says Mr. Frank M. Chapman, " it pauses, hovers a 

 moment, and then, closing its wings, descends with a speed and directness of 

 aim that generally insure success. It strikes the water with great force, making 

 a loud splash, and frequently disappears for a moment before rising with its 

 prey grasped in its powerful talons." The manner of descent has been further 

 described by Mr. Paul Bartsch, who says : " The Osprey shifts its center of gravity 

 when it passes above the water as does the Kingfisher, whose body changes 

 almost to a vertical from the horizontal position as he prepares for a plunge. 

 Neither does the Osprey dive head first as does the Kingfisher; but he plunges 

 into the water with wings extended widely upward, clutching his prey with his 

 powerful outstretched talons." It has been known to strike the water with 

 such force as to break a wing, and quite a number of cases are on record of their 

 striking a fish too large for them to handle, and being unable to loosen their claws, 

 have been drawn under and drowned. Curiously enough they always carry 

 their prey head first, and if captured in another position they are said to turn 

 it around in mid-air. As soon as they secure a fish they start for the land, and 

 if not robbed of it by a watchful Eagle, resort to a particular spot, where it is 

 devoured at leisure. Wherever food is perennially abundant the Fish-Hawks 

 often occur in colonies of several hundred, but in other localities less favored 

 only one or two pairs are found. I have seen a dozen nests within a short dis- 

 tance along the Yellowstone Lake, the birds apparently feeding on the trout so 

 abundant there. 



The nesting site selected by the Fish-Hawk is extremely varied, although 

 usually it is a tall tree, especially one that has the top or a large limb broken 

 out by a storm. In some localities, as for example Plum Island, New York, 

 where the birds are protected, they build the nest on low trees, on chance piles 

 of rails, or even on the ground. "The most picturesque nesting site of the 

 Osprey I ever saw," says Bendire, " was located in the midst of the American 

 Falls of Snake River, Idaho. Right on the very brink of these, and about one 

 third of the way across, the seething volume of water, confined here between 

 frowning walls of basalt, was cleft in twain by a rocky obstruction which had 



