-'i hie 



AMERICAN OSPREY 



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VOL. 1. 



ASHLAND, KY., SEPTEMBER, 1890. 



NO. (i. 



AMERICAN OSPREY. 

 Pandion halialtus carolinensis. Gmel. 



The Osprey soars aloft with his hard earned prey, 

 The pilfering Eagle comes and takes it away; 

 And thus, the Osprey is forced to yield 

 To a tyrant that will his power so wield. 



If 1 were the Osprey, I'd fight to the last. 

 I'd never give up 'till all hope wan passed. 

 And tlien I'd drop that fish, and let him go 

 Into ths water before the Eagle would know. 



Then I'd fly to yonder storm beaten snag. 



And the Eagle to his eyrie ivould lag.- 



And then, 1 would fly around the bend, 



And catch me a fish, and the way to my nest I'd wend. 



Tiiis fine bird inhabits the whole of 

 the Eastern part of the North American 

 Continent and probably breeds more 

 abundantly from the month of the Ches- 

 apeake Bay, north to the c-Oiist of Connec- 

 ticut than in any other locality of its 

 habitat. It is a sum mer resident in the 

 northern portion of its range, arriving in 

 Massachusetts about the middle of 

 April. They commence to make ar- 

 rangements for breeding about the first 

 of .May, and in this locality they build 

 their nests somewhat like the Bald 

 Eagle, although 1 am informed by col- 

 lectors that they often build on the 

 gr >und on Plum Island, and that all 

 along the coast of New Jersey they place 

 their nests in trees not often more than 

 five or ten feet from the ground. 



A pair nests near here every spring, 

 occupying the same nest every time. 

 The site is a cypress broken off by some 

 storm and the nest is placed on the very 

 pinnacle, seventy-five feet from the 

 ground or rather water, for the tree is 

 standing in a mill-pond. I have often 

 longed to visit that Osprey's nest with a 



view of obtaining the eggs that it con- 



tains every spring, but it is useless to 

 long since I can not climb that storm 

 beaten stump on which rests the nest. 



The number of eggs laid, is usually 

 three, although sets of four are frequent- 

 ly found, and sets of two are common. 

 The average size of two hundred speci- 

 mens is 2.40x1.75 in. The color is yel- 

 lowish or creamy white, thickly spotted 

 and blotched with reddish-brown and 

 umber. 



The markings are very thick at larger 

 ends, so much so as to obscure the 

 ground color, sometimes this is the 

 reverse and the markings are principally 

 at smaller ends. Long may the Ospreys 

 sail over the fair waters of this Contin- 

 ent, and as long may Tub Osprey live to 

 advance the science of Ornithology and 

 Oology. 



J. W. P. Smith wick, 

 Sans Souci, N. C. 



BIRD STUDIES.— V. 



MORE SPARROWS. 

 BY pic us. 



The Bay-winged, Yellow-winged and 

 Savanna Sparrows are three more birds 

 which the young ornithologist will in- 

 variably have trouble in distinguishing. 

 All are sum mer residents in the Northern 

 States and are found inhabiting the 

 same pastures and dry fields. The 

 ordinary observer notices no difference 

 in their plumage; they all have the 

 "sparrow color" on the back, and as they 

 flit along before him he notices that 

 their tails are edged with white. 



The nest, which one often finds an aid 

 to identification, in this case affords no 

 clue. Each bird builds on the ground 

 (Continued on 2d page.) 



