ters from the southern United States to 

 northern South America. In this exten- 

 sive range many observers of bird life 

 have the opportunity of watching this 

 graceful bird. When soaring, the Osprey 

 sails with almost motionless wings and 

 its large curved wings are marked char- 

 acteristics. One observer gives the fol- 

 lowing excellent description of its method 

 of hunting and catching its prey. It is 

 the observation of Mr. Charles S. Shick 

 and is quoted by Major Bendire in his 

 Life Histories of North American 

 Birds, "It is interesting to watch the 

 Fish Hawk obtaining its food. Sailing 

 along from fifty to one hundred feet 

 above the water, with its keen eye it can 

 easily see any fish swimming close to the 

 surface of the water, and as soon as it 

 sees its quarry, stops its flight, remains 

 suspended motionless in the air for a 

 moment, closes its wings, and then darts 

 downward like an arrow. It disappears 

 under the water for a few seconds, and 

 when it rises and again takes wing a 

 shinning, wriggling fish can be plainly 

 seen in the grasp of its powerful talons. 

 It is a curious fact that this bird will 

 never carry the fish with the tail to the 

 front. Many times have I seen them turn 

 the fish around in mid air." It is said 

 that the Osprey has been known to strike 

 its talons so deeply into the body of a fish 

 so large, heavy and powerful that the 

 bird, unable to release its hold, has been 

 drawn under water and drowned. Ex- 

 pert as the Osprey is, it does not always 

 succeed in catching its prey and often it 

 is obliged to make several plunges before 

 it is successful. 



The nests of the Osprey are usually 

 placed near or in the tops of large trees 

 of various kinds. Sometimes they are 

 placed on the ground or in the clefts of 

 rocky cliffs. Major Bendire tells of a 

 very picturesque nesting site which was 

 located in the midst of the American 

 Falls of the Snake River, in 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 so far withstood the ever 

 eroding currents, and this was capped 

 with a slender and fairly tapering column 

 of rock rising directly out of the swirl- 



ing and foaming whirlpool below. On 

 the top of this natural monument, whose 

 apex appeared to me to be scarcely two 

 feet wide, a pair of Ospreys had placed 

 their nest and were rearing their young 

 amidst the never ceasing roar of the falls 

 directly below them." The Ospreys are 

 also known to nest "in holes in the sand- 

 stone bluffs" along the Little Red River 

 in Arkansas. Mr. Silloway says that, 

 "sometimes the birds become so familiar 

 that they make their habitation on the 

 chimneys of rural residences, and an in- 

 stance is recorded of a nest on the cross- 

 piece of a telegraph pole." 



In itself, the nest of the Osprey is not 

 a thing of beauty. It is simply a mass 

 of large sticks, dead branches, twigs, 

 pieces of driftwood and a miscellaneous 

 variety of odd sorts of rubbish which the 

 environment furnishes. The nest is usu- 

 ally quite neatly lined with various kinds 

 of materials which are easily obtainable. 

 Some of these are seaweeds, grass, shreds 

 of fibrous bark, cow dung, twigs, mud, 

 corn stalks and feathers. The height at 

 which the nest is built depends on the 

 birds' feeling of security, and this varies 

 from on the ground to a height of over 

 eighty feet. It is said that the Ospreys 

 will "frequently repair their homes in 

 the fall, that the structure may more 

 readily withstand the blasts of winter, 

 though the work of repairing is princi- 

 pally done in the spring." As a nest is 

 often used, probably by the same pair of 

 birds, year after year and new material 

 is added each season, it is not long before 

 it becomes a very large structure. Nests 

 have been found which measured more 

 than five feet in diameter. 



The Ospreys are gentle and have a re- 

 markably kind disposition. They are no- 

 tably affectionate toward their mates and 

 their young. They become attached to 

 their old nests, for they are used not only 

 for raising the young but probably for a 

 resting place at other seasons. They are 

 brave birds and, unlike the eagles, will 

 defend their homes against all intruders, 

 even attacking man when he attempts to 

 molest their eggs or young. They never 

 molest the smaller birds and will even 

 permit them to build their homes in the 

 interstices of their own bulky nest. Mr. 

 Davie tells of an Osprey's nest in the cav- 



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