235 



Twice in one day, I witnessed a scene in bird-dom that is 

 rarely observed, — that of an eagle pursuing an Osprey. 

 This act was first noted by Audubon and has been copied 

 widely from his writings, but few have had the opportunity 

 of actually seeing it. Near Lynnhaven Inlet on the coast 

 of Virginia, Bald Eagles were very plentiful as also were 

 Ospreys. The latter caught most of their fish out of the 

 nets that were set at frequent intervals by fishermen. The 

 eagles fed largely upon dead fish that washed ashore, the 

 same as did the buzzards, but often they, too, went fishing 

 in the weirs. 



I had located an Osprey nest, containing young, about 

 two hundred yards from the beach ; standing at the foot of 

 this tree I could, at one time, count sixteen eagles in sight. 

 To decide whether the Ospreys and eagles were on friendly 

 terms, I spent the greater part of a day watching them. 

 Unfortunately, as it was a ten mile walk from mj' stopping 

 place, I did not have my graflex with me. 



One of the Ospreys, bearing a fish in its talons, came to 

 the nest about every half hour. Although several eagles 

 were perched on some of the dead trees, which were half 

 covered by the drifting sands, within a hundred yards of 

 the nest, they did not attempt to molest the smaller bird ex- 

 cept in two instances; they did, however, all watch the in- 

 coming hawks with the greatest of interest. 



On one occasion, perhaps in a spirit of bravado for, 

 with food so plenty, there was no excuse for marauding, a 

 young, very dark. Bald Eagle, uttering a single shrill whis- 

 tle, flew to meet a returning Osprey. Evidently the same 

 thing had happened before for the hawk immediately 

 wheeled and started mounting skyward, uttering piercing, 

 tremulous screams. With only an occasional flap of his 

 huge wings, the eagle closely followed, ascending in wide 

 spirals until both were nearly lost to view, even when view- 

 ed with powerful binoculars. I should judge that they were 



