16 



FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY 



and rarely four. They are somewhat larger than those of the com* 

 mon hen, and nearly of the same shape. The ground color varies^ 

 in different eggs, from a reddish cream, to nearly a white, splash- 

 ed 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 w ith fish ; tho 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-Har- 

 bour river, and near its mouth, were 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 ra- 

 tionality 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 plaintive whistling note, which be- 

 comes shriller as she takes to wing, and sails around, sometimes 

 making a rapid descent, as if aiming directly for you; but check- 

 ing her course and sweeping past at a short distance over head, her 

 wings making a loud whizzing in the air. My worthy friend Mr. 



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

 following incident will shew 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 car- 

 ried 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 ; 

 but, whether from its effects on the olfactory nerves (for he said it smelt abominably) the ima- 

 gination, or on the stomach alone, is uncertain, 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. 



