THE OSPREY. 



Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus). 

 Plate 33. 



The Osprey, at one time a regular visitant during the summer months to many 

 a Highland loch, and returning year after year to the same eyrie, has now deserted 

 its two last well-known strongholds, viz. Loch an Eilan in 1903, and Loch Arkaig 

 in 191 1. Whether it may still nest elsewhere is not known, and without doubt the 

 destruction of this fine bird as a breeding species was caused partly by the greed 

 of egg collectors, and also by the wanton shooting of both old and young birds 

 during their migration southwards in autumn, and of the former when they return 

 in spring. Migrating Ospreys still occur, however, during those seasons in the 

 British Islands, including Ireland, though they have never been known to breed 

 there. Elsewhere this species has almost a world-wide distribution, but has not 

 been recorded in Greenland or Iceland. 



The nest is a large piled-up structure, built of sticks and turf, on the flattened 

 top of which is formed a small moss-lined cavity to receive the eggs. These are 

 generally three in number, and vary a good deal in colour, the usual type being 

 white or buffish-white in ground colour, marked with spots and blotches of deep 

 reddish-brown, sometimes with underlying shell-markings of violet-grey. 



In Scotland the site selected in most cases was the top of some ruined building, 

 by the side or surrounded by the waters of a loch, the summit of a steep conical 

 island rock, or the upper branches of a tall old pine. 



A large extent of water, well stocked with fish ; solitude and freedom from 

 molestation, seem essential to the Osprey, which obtains its prey by a sudden 

 plunge into the water, after hovering Kestrel-like at some height above the 

 surface, while should the fish be within easy reach, it wets little more than its 

 feet in the process. These are wonderfully adapted to the purpose of securing 

 their slippery quarry, being armed with long curved claws, while the under-surface 

 of the toes, the outer one of which is reversible, are rough and studded with 

 pointed scales. The legs are strong and muscular, the thighs, unlike those of 

 most raptorial birds, being clothed with short close feathers to withstand the wet. 



The female is larger than the male, and is more marked with brown on the 

 breast. 



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