103 



THE OOLOGISl 



poises above the selected prey and at a 

 height of from fifteen to 100 yards, gen- 

 erally at about thirty yards, and then 

 plunges at an angle of from forty to 

 eighty degrees. He drops with a mighty 

 rush, and apparently, is certain of de- 

 struction if he strikes the water at this 

 speed. No one can positively assert 

 just how the Fish Hawk strikes the 

 water, for though it seems as if he 

 strikes heavily, and very often goes 

 completely under the surface, and in 

 some cases remains under for nearly a 

 half minute, yet it is observable that the 

 prey, when secured, is always brought 

 forth in the talons. It is really remark- 

 able how the Osprey can regulate his 

 plunge and secure the fish with his 

 claws after churning the water to foam. 

 It would almost seem that he makes a 

 grab in the dark after reaching the 

 water. His method of capture differs 

 from all others of the birds which I 

 have observed in America. When the 

 Osprey secures the fish it quickly mounts 

 from the surface and then the capture 

 may be plainly seen in the talons of the 

 fortunate bird. The bird nearly or 

 quite always carries the fish head for- 

 ward and grasps it with both feet. In 

 quarters where I have observed I be- 

 lieve the average catch weighed about a 

 pound and a half and I judged that fish 

 that weighed less than a pound were 

 rarely hunted, while two pounders and 

 even as large as three pounders were 

 not rarely secured by the Hawk. On 

 one trip in Southern Florida we repeat- 

 edly observed a fishing bird that had re- 

 ceived an injury to one of its legs, rend- 

 ering it powerless to use the injuied 

 foot. This foot hung down when the 

 bird flew and was of no apparent use in 

 its forays for fish. We carefully watched 

 this crippled fisher in its attempts to 

 catch fish, and noted that the poor bird 

 made as many as eight or ten plunges 

 before securing a prize, and when the 

 fish was secured the prize was held in 

 the claws of one foot, the other foot be- 



ing of no assistance. After the capture 

 the Hawk flew to a convenient perch on * 

 a limb in plain sight from our boat and 

 attempted to eat the fish. The attempt 

 to manage the fish and as well hold to 

 its perch was too much of an under- 

 taking for the disabled bird and in its 

 struggles it lost its hold on the fish, 

 which fell to the ground. The Hawk 

 made no attempt to regain the captured 

 fish, but immediately began fishing 

 again. 



The Pelicans are odd feeders and 

 their methods of securing prey are 

 various. In nddition to the habit of 

 snapping up fish and other food as they 

 swim about, they have also the habit of 

 swooping down and engulfing fish on 

 the surface or just below. This habit 

 frequently observed in the Brown Peli- 

 can in the south is most singular. The 

 fishing birds may be closely watched at 

 St. Petersburg on Tampa bay, where 

 they are protected by law, and where 

 they have become very tame and unsus- 

 picious. I have repeatedly seen the 

 birds dive within ten yards of the wharf 

 where I was standing. The bird flies 

 with flops of its huge wings and has not 

 inaptly been likened to an exagerated 

 Woodcock with its long beak drooping. 

 At times the birds hover over a spot 

 and then drop with a heavy thud into 

 the water This plunge is made head 

 first and it always seems a miracle to 

 me that the creature is not killed out- 

 right from the concussion. The bird 

 seems to strike the water like a huge 

 bladder and sometimes goes completely 

 beneath the surface, but generallv only 

 partially, and in most instances immed- 

 iatelv rises after its plunge. In these 

 cases where the prey is small and taken 

 from near the surface, I am well satis- 

 fied that the Pelican scoops up the food 

 rather than snaps it up with its beak. 

 If one will examine a Pelican's bill it 

 will be found that the upper mandible 

 is firm and very strong, while the under 

 mandible is of very pliable material. 



