THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



45 



bluish black ; cere, blue grey ; eye, yellow. 

 In a specimen in Mr. James Varley's collec- 

 tion, of Huddersfield. from which the figure 

 is taken, the upper part of the head, chin, 

 and under parts of the body are white with a 

 slight tint of yellow in places. Two brown 

 lines pass from the bill to behind the head, 

 where the feathers are elongated, and can in 

 the living bird be raised at pleasure int>> a 

 kind of crest. Back and wing coverts dark 

 brown. The primaries are nearly black, and 

 extend a little beyond the tail. The tail 

 is barred above with two shades of brown, 

 and underneath the bars are indicated by pale 

 brown on a white ground. The legs are 

 bluish, and are feathered in front slightly 

 below the knee. 



The female is similar, but larger, and the 

 white on the head not so clear. 



[umatdre birds have the bill black, and 

 he whole of the plumage much variegated. 

 The feathers of the head are brown, mar- 

 gined with paler color, the nape not becom- 

 ing clear white till the third or fourth year. 

 Young birds vary a good deal in the markings 

 of the upper parts. 



Note. — When ascending in the air the 

 Osprey is said to make a kind of crackling 

 noist. which often develops into a scream 

 when the bird is about to descend. 



Flight. —The flight "f this species is slow 

 and heavy, yet easy. When it leaves its 

 nest it generally sails off in a straight line for 

 its fishing ground, where it wheels round in 

 graceful evolutions, sometimes ascending to a 

 great height. When it perceives a fish it 

 rapidly descends, hence the Italian name 

 Aquila plumba (Leaden Eagle). Occasionally 

 it will check its course in mid-air, and hover 

 like the Kestrel, no doubt this is when the 

 fish has escaped from observation. Should 

 the same fish, or another, again appear, the 

 descent is continued, and the bird has often 

 to plunge completely beneath the surface of 

 the water in order to capture its prey. It 

 emerges in a few seconds, and, shaking the 

 water from its plumage, carries the cap- 



tured fish to its nest, or to some tree, or 

 j rocky prominence to devour. The Osprey 

 j seldom alights on the ground, and when it 

 j does so, its movements "are ungainly, on 

 j account of the shortness of its legs. 



Migration— The Osprey is a migratory 

 bird, moving southward on the approach of 

 winter, and returning northward in the 

 spring to breed. In Britain it breeds in the 

 n >rth. and when specimens are obtained in 

 the south it is generally in the autumn or 

 winter. In America, where the bird is very 

 ' common, they reach the coast of New York 

 and New Jersey about the 21st of March, 

 ; moving southward again about the 22nd of 

 j September. 



Food — The food of this species appears 

 to be exclusively fish, which it captures from 

 either the sea or fresh-water. Some authors 

 state that it will occasionally attack birds, 

 such as water fowl, but probably this is only 

 when driven to do so by excessive hunger. 

 I The American fishermen hail with pleasure 

 the appearance of the Osprey in the spring, 

 as it serves to denote the appearance of 

 shoals of herring and other kinds of fish, to 

 which the birds serves them as a guide, and 

 for this reason it is protected by common 

 consent. 



In confinement it must be fed on fish, 

 j and must have a pond of water where it can 

 wash. 



Habitat- — In Britain the breeding haunts 

 of the Osprey are confined to the Highlands 



J of Scotland, and sparingly to some portions 

 of Ireland. Formerly it used to breed on 

 the coast of Devonshire. Stray specimens 

 are occasionally killed in various parts of 

 England. One is recorded in White's 



: "Natural History of Selbome," and several 



j others are mentioned in " Letters of Rus- 



j ticus," 



Abroad this bird may be found throughout 

 i Europe, and is also met with in Africa, and 

 I the northern portion of Asia. In North 

 America it is a common species, in some 

 places breeding in colonies, as many as thirty 



