VOL. X. 



The Oologist. 



ALBION, N. Y., FEB., 1893. 



NO. 2 



The American Osprey. 



BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS. 



''Soon as the sun. great ruler of the year, 

 Beads to our northern clime his bright career, 

 And from the caves of ocean calls from sleep 

 The finny shoals, and myriads of the deep. 

 When freezing tempests back to Greenland 



ride, 

 And day and night the equal hours divide : 

 True to the season o'er our sea beat shore, 

 The sailing Osprey high is seen to soar." 



These true and expressive lines are 

 credited tt> Alexander Wilson, the great, 

 ornithologist, and are ample evidence 

 of true poetic thought, and of the na- 

 turalist. 



The Osprey or Fish-hawk is known 

 throughout the length of our eastern 

 seaboard, and how much further north 

 I am unable to say. I have observed 

 it, apparently as much at home in 

 southern Florida as on the shores of 

 New England. It not rarely spends its 

 summers in the interior, and in widely 

 separated localities, being unknown in 

 intervening regions of vast territory. 

 The Mississippi evidently offers an in- 

 ducement as a route for imigration 

 north from the Gulf, as is shown by its 

 not rarely appearing in the vicinity of 

 the tributaries of the big river. It 

 nests in Michigan, and that too in the 

 interior of the state, although it is 

 more common about the shores of the 

 great lakes. 



No one who has watched the habits of 

 the Fish-hawk, can fail to take an inter- 

 est in the noble bird, and there are few 

 indeed, aside from the meddler, who 

 will do an injury to this pleasing at- 

 tendant of the fisherman. At the north 

 it is looked upon as a harbinger of the 

 season of plenty, and the fishing popu- 

 lation almost regard it with supersti- 

 tion. 



'"She brings u^ fish ; she brings us spring ; 



Good times, fair weather, warmth and plenty ; 

 Fine store of shad, cod, herring, ling, 



Sheep-head and drum and old-wives dainty." 



Thus runs the old song, and undoubt- 

 edly the hardy fishers were cheered at 

 the reappearance of pleasant weather 

 and good times, together with this 

 winged messenger. Think of the joy 

 of spring, and the pleasure in securing 

 ample hauls of fish. Again they sing. 



"The Osprey sails above the sound. 



The geese are gone and the gulls are flying. 

 The herring shoals swarm thick around, 



The nets are set and the boats are plying." 



In Michigan, and in fact throughout 

 the interior, the Osprey is so little 

 known that the habits can rarely be 

 studied, and it is only on the seaboard 

 that the species is abundant. In all, 

 not too well settled districts along our 

 Atlantic coast.Fish-hawks may be found 

 in season, the Maine shore -line being 

 favored with their presence seven 

 months or more, while further south 

 the graceful tishers are found propor- 

 tionately longer, and in Florida through 

 out the year. 



This bird, nearly allied to the Eagles, 

 is a very industrious creature, and un- 

 like the so-called noble- bird, the Bald- 

 headed Eagle, it never feeds on putrid 

 flesh. The Bald-headed Eagle, the un- 

 fortunately selected emblem of our 

 country, which regales itself on dead 

 fish, which it finds on shore, also has 

 the censurable habit of robbing its 

 cousin the Fish-hawk of its nonestiy ac- . 

 quired prey. Watching from afar, the 

 Eagle hasteus towards the successful 

 Osprey, as soon as it ascends from the 

 surface with its catch. The fortunate, 

 or we might say unfortunate bird, per- 

 ceiving its pursuer, mounts into the 

 air and endeavors to escape. Up, up 

 they go, and often appear like mere 

 specks before the pursuit is finished. 

 It always appeared odd to me that the 

 Fish-hawk does not attempt to escape 

 by a straight away flight, as in that case 



