FISH HAWK, OR OSPREY 330 
themselves in a stern posture of defence as I exar jned them at my 
leisure. The female had procured a second helpnate; but he did 
not seem to inherit the spirit of his predecessor, for, like a true step- 
father, he left the nest at ‘my approach, and sailed about at a safe dis- 
tance with his mate, who showed great anxiety and distress during 
the whole of my visit. It is universally asserted, by the people of the 
neighborhood where these birds breed, that the young remain so long. 
before they fly, that the parents are obliged at last to compel them to 
shift for themselves, beating them with their wings, and driving their 
from the nest. But that they continue to assist them even after this, [ 
know to be a fact, from my own observation, as I have seen the young 
bird meet its parent in the air, and receive from him the fish he car- 
ried in his claws. 
The flight of the Fish Hawk, his manceuvres while in search ot 
fish, and his manner of seizing his prey, are deserving of particular 
notice. In leaving the nest, he usually flies direct till he comes to 
the sea, then sails around, in easy curving lines, turning sometimes in 
the air as on a pivot, apparently without the least exertion, rarely mov- 
ing the wings, his legs extended in a straight line behind, and his 
remarkable length, and curvature, or bend of wing, distinguishing him 
from all other Hawks. The height at which he thus elegantly glides 
is various, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty, and two hun- 
dred feet, sometimes much higher, all the while calmly reconnoitering 
the face of the deep below. Suddenly he is seen to check his course, 
as if struck by a particular object, which he seems to survey for a few 
moments with suck steadiness, that he appears fixed in air, flapping 
his wings. This object, however he abandons, or rather the fish he 
had in his eye has disappeared, and he is again seen sailing around 
as before. Now his attention is again arrested, and he descends with 
great rapidity; but ere he reaches the surface, shoots off on another 
course, as if ashamed that a second victim had escaped him. He now 
sails at a short height above the surface, and by a zigzag descent, and 
without seeming to dip his feet in the water, seizes a fish, which, after 
carrying a short distance, he probably drops, or yields up to the Bald 
Eagle, and again ascends, by easy spiral circles, to the higher regions 
of the air, where he glides about in all the ease and majesty of his 
species. At once, from this sublime aérial height, he descends like a 
perpendicular torrent, plunging into the sea with a loud rushing sound, 
and with the certainty of a rifle. In a few moments he emerges, 
bearing in his claws his struggling prey, which he always carries 
head foremost, and, having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes 
himself as a water spaniel would do, and directs his heavy and labo- 
rious course directly for the land. If the wind blow hard, and his nest 
lie in the quarter from whence it comes, it is amusing to observe with 
what judgment and exertion he beats to windward, not in a direct line, 
that is, tr the wind’s eye, but making several successive tacks to gain 
his purpose. This will appear the more striking, when we consider 
the size of the fish which he sometimes bears along. A shad was 
taken from a Fish Hawk near Great Egg Harbor, on which he had 
begun to regale himself, and had already ate a considerable portion 
of it; the remainder weighed six pounds. Another Fish k awk was 
passing Mr. Beasley’s, at the same place, with > "»rge flourJer in his 
