FISH HAWK, OR OSPREY. IC q 



those of the common hen. and nearly of the same shape. The 

 ground colour varies, in different eggs, from a reddish cream, 

 to nearly a white, splashed and daubed all over with dark 

 Spanish brown, as if done by art* During the time the 

 female is sitting, the male frequently supplies her with fish ; 

 though she occasionally takes a short circuit to sea herself, 

 but quickly returns again. The attention of the male, on such 

 occasions, is regulated by the circumstances of the case. A 

 pair of these birds, on the south side of Great Egg Harbour 

 river, and near its mouth, was noted for several years. The 

 female, having but one leg, was regularly furnished, while 

 sitting, with fish in such abundance, that she seldom left the 

 nest, and never to seek for food. This kindness was continued 

 both before and after incubation. Some animals, who claim 

 the name and rationality of man, might blush at the recital 

 of this fact. 



On the appearance of the young, which is usually about the 

 last of June, the zeal and watchfulness of the parents are 

 extreme. They stand guard, and go off to fish, alternately: 

 one parent being always within a short distance of the nest. 

 On the near approach of any person, the hawk utters a plain- 

 tive whistling note, which becomes shriller as she takes to 

 wing, and sails around, sometimes making a rapid descent, 

 as if aiming directly for you ; but checking her course, and 



* Of the palatableness of these eggs I cannot speak from personal 

 experience ; but the following incident will show that the experiment 

 has actually been made : — A country fellow, near Cape May, on his 

 way to a neighbouring tavern, passing a tree, on which was a fish 

 hawk's nest, immediately mounted, and robbed it of the only egg it 

 contained, which he carried with him to the tavern, and desired the 

 landlord to make it into egg-nogg. The tavern keeper, after a few wry 

 faces, complied with his request, and the fellow swallowed the cordial. 

 Whether from its effects on the olfactory nerves (for he said it smelt 

 abominably), on the imagination, or on the stomach alone, is uncertain, 

 but it operated as a most outrageous emetic, and cured the man, for that 

 time at least, of his thirst for egg-nogg. What is rather extraordinary, 

 the landlord (Mr Beasley) assured me, that, to all appearance, the egg 

 was perfectly fresh. 



