PLATE 



XLII. 



GENUS PANDION. 



rilHE Ospreys of Europe and America are represented in Australia by one species, Pandion 

 JL Leucocephcdus. 



PANDION LEUCOCEPHALUS (Gould). 



T I ^HITE-HEA DED OSPREY. 



TI^HE range of the species under notice extends over pretty well the whole of Australia and 

 Tasmania, though it is nowhere found in any great abundance. It feeds on fish, and on this 

 account is always found either near the sea, or in the close vicinity of rivers and lakes. 



The manner of obtaining food is the same as that of the Old World Osprey. It circles 

 about in the air at a considerable height, and on perceiving a fish darts down with great swiftness 

 and captures it, even from beneath the surface of the water. 



Of its flight, Gould says : — " When near the water its flight is heavy and flapping ; but 



when soaring aloft at a great altitude its actions are the most easy and graceful imaginable ; at one 



moment it appears motionless, and at another performs a series of beautiful curves and circles, 

 apparently for mere enjoyment." 



The nest, which sometimes measures as much as sixteen feet in circumference, is placed 

 generally on an almost inaccessible rock, but sometimes on the top of a high tree. It is constructed 

 of thick sticks, lined with seaweed, or thin twigs and grass. Two eggs are laid, the length of which 

 is two and five-twelfth inches, and the breadth one and three-quarter inches. The ground colour is 

 dirty yellowish-white, with blotches of very dark reddish-brown ; and in some cases, also, there are 

 faint marks of purple. 



The head, back of the neck, throat, and chest, are white, each feather with a mark of brown 

 down the centre ; abdomen, white ; feathers of the back, wings, and tail, blackish-brown, margined 

 with grey ; primaries, black ; irides, bright red ; bill, black ; legs and feet, reddish-brown. 



Habitats : Australia and Tasmania. 



