ii8 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



NEST IN THE ZU{)L(^G1CA1. PARK, 

 ansportetl from Gardiner's Island. 



BUILDERS OF GREAT NESTS. 



Br C. WILLIAM BEEBE. 



CURATOR OF BIRDS. 



Ilhistrntions from photogyaplis by author. 



A SUDDEN rush i.f wings, a mighty splash, 

 and a ghmpse amiti the spray of shining 

 fish-scales and great yellow talons ! Such 

 an exciting introduction to the American osprey 

 or fish-hawk was a tempting one to follow up, 

 and subsequent meetings liave proved these birds 

 to be most interesting acquaintances. 



Most of our hawks and other birds of prey, 

 from their apparently cruel custom of feeding on 

 smaller birds, do not arouse the love and sym- 

 pathy whicli is excited by the study of birds of 

 less rapacious habits, but we must not include 

 all hawks in this sweeping condemnation, for 

 the ospreys are remarkable exceptions. These 

 striking birds inhabit almost the whole length of 

 our Atlantic sea-coast, where it is not a rare 

 sight to see a fish-hawk h jvering over its favour- 

 ite fishing-ground and occasionally dashing down 

 — meteor -like — into the waves, the impetus or 

 the struggle of the fish, even forcing the bird 

 under water. With dripping wings the hawk 

 rises and circles upward, its finny prey writhing 

 in the grip of the steel claws. When it is satis- 



fied witli the altitude, the great wings are set and 

 a straiglit line taken in the direction of the nest. 



The homes of these birds — great masses of 

 sticks which are visible for long distances — are 

 usually built in dead trees. Generally they are 

 several miles apart, but in certain rare localities 

 many pairs of birds may be found nesting in 

 close proximity. Gardiner's Island, not very far 

 from New York, is such a favored spot, years of 

 freedom from persecution rendering the birds 

 tame and easy to study. In fact, this island has 

 become a perfect paradise for birds of all kinds. 

 There are no cats, weasels or minks, the ospreys 

 drive away other birds of prey. Most important 

 of all, the owner is a warm friend of all the birds 

 and they know it. Robins nest in every crevice 

 on the front porch of his house ; the fence posts 

 around the yard hold many nests of flickers ; 

 swifts revel in the chimneys ; bob - whites and 

 pheasants run about fearlessly near the house, 

 and woodcocks brush by our heads at dusk. 



Some distance away a colony of black-crowned 

 night herons is cstaliHshed, and near the shore in 



