THE AMERICAN OSPREY. 417 



No. 187. 



AMERICAN OSPREY. 



A. O. U. No. 364. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmel.). 



Synonym. — Fish Hawk. 



Description. — Adult male : Upper parts plain fuscous ; tip of wing blackish ; 

 tail crossed by six or eight dusky bands ; head white, heavily but narrow!^ streaked 

 with blackish; an irregular dusky band proceeding backward from eye; feathers 

 of occiput loosely ruffled, or presenting a crested appearance ; under parts white, 

 sometimes rufous-spotted on breast, but usually immaculate ; lining of wing mot- 

 tled, — white and fuscous near edge, remainder white or buffy, dusky-barred dis- 

 tally ; bill and claws black ; cere and base of bill bluish black ; feet bluish gray ; 

 iris yellow and red. Adult female : Similar but breast heavily marked with yel- 

 lowish brown or fuscous. Immature : Like adult, but feathers of upper parts 

 bordered terminally with white or buffy. The same distinction obtains between 

 the se.xes as in case of adults. Length 21.00-25.00 (533.4-635.) ; wing 17.00-20.50 

 (431.8-520.7); tail 7.00-10.00 (177.8-254.); culmen i. 20-1.40 (30.5-35.6). 



Recognition Marks. — Brant size; extensive white contrasting with fuscous, 

 distinctive ; labored flight ; river- and lake-haunting ways. 



Nest, an immense mass of sticks, broad-topped, hned centrally with bark- 

 strips and soft materials ; placed centrally on top of trees of various heights, or 

 on isolated rocks of rivers, etc. Eggs, 2-4, dull or buffy white, heavily spotted, 

 blotched, or overspread with chocolate; rarely almost or quite unmarked. Av. 

 size, 2.45 X 1.81 (62.2 X 46.). 



General Range. — North America from Hudson Bay and Alaska south to 

 the West Indies and northern South America. Breeds throughout its North 

 American range. 



Range in Ohio. — Not uncommon locally, — about the reservoirs and on Lake 

 Erie. Rare or unknown elsewhere. Chiefly summer resident. Sparingly resi- 

 dent in winter in the extreme south. 



ALONG the sea coast, up the large rivers, and wherever there are con- 

 siderable bodies of water, the Fish Hawks are to be found more or less com- 

 monly according to the treatment which they have received at the hand of 

 man. They are simple-hearted, honest folk, and deserve protection, if for 

 no other reason, because they are fishermen. They are, however, cruelly per- 

 secuted in many sections of the country, and have been almost exterminated 

 in this state; but to my mind it is a mighty mean sportsman who will begrudge 

 a poor bird the taking of a few fish by methods not less sportsmanlike than 



his own. 



The Osprey feeds exclusively upon fish and covers long stretches of water 

 in its tireless search. It flies along at a height of fifty or a hundred feet above 

 the water, and when its finny prey is sighted, pauses for a moment on hovering 

 wings, then drops with a resounding splash, often quite disappearing beneath 



