56 BEITISH BIRDS. 



lands^ and in Ireland the Osprey is only known as an extremely rare 

 straggler^ appearing at long and uncertain intervals. Its occurrence in 

 England is usually confined to the period of the spring and autumn 

 migrations. It has been obtained more or less frequently in almost every 

 maritime county^ and^ more rarely^ as far inland as Oxfordshire and Shrop- 

 shire. Mr. Cordeaux informs me that " in the autumn of last year no 

 less than nine occurrences of the Osprey were recorded from the east coast 

 of England between the Tees and the Thames, from the last week in 

 September through October — viz. 1 Durham, 1 Yorkshire, 3 Lincolnshire 

 (2 immature, 1 adult female on the 15th of October), 2 Norfolk, and 2 near 

 London." 



The Osprey breeds throughout the Palsearctic and Nearctic Regions, 

 nearly as far north as the limit of forest-growth. It is a migratory bird, 

 leaving at least all the northerly parts of its range in autumn. It winters 

 in South Europe and North Africa, where a few remain to breed in very 

 favourable localities. It has once been recorded from Natal. In Asia it 

 winters south of the Himalayas, occasionally straying as far as New 

 Zealand and some of the Pacific islands. On the American continent it 

 winters in Central America (where a few remain to breed) and the West 

 Indies, occasionally wandering as far south as Brazil. 



Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgeway attempt to separate the Ospreys 

 of America and Australia as local races under the respective names of var. 

 carolinensis and var. leucocephalus ; but the characters given are so slight 

 and so ill-defined that they are more likely to be individual than 

 climatic. 



Years ago, before the railway had joined the Highland solitudes with 

 southern industry, before such attention was given to the preservation of 

 game and the destruction of " vermin," the Osprey dwelt amongst the 

 mountain-lochs, or on the brown heathlands studded thickly with stunted 

 fir and birch trees. Now his haunts, which are only few and far between 

 appear to be the dense pine-forests that clothe the steep and rocky hill- 

 sides, or away lower down the slopes in the broad stretches of bog-land, 

 thinly sprinkled with timber, and overgrown with green and treacherous 

 moss and rushes, amongst stagnant pools almost concealed by the hixuriance 

 of dank and tangled masses of water-plants and coarse grass. Here and 

 there in these situations, amongst the huge rocks and steep precipitous 

 glens pierced by mountain-torrents and strewn with tempest relics of 

 fallen pine and birch trees, the Osprey may sometimes be seen reposing 

 or digesting his meal. Here, on these strictly preserved estates, the 

 Osprey is a regular visitor in the summer months, and bids fair, with the 

 aid of the protection now afforded it, to reinstate itself in the home of its 

 ancestors. His haunt, however, by reason of the peculiar nature of his 

 sustenance, must always be near the waters — either the large freshwater 



