OSPREY 
211 
nesting in a few protected places in the Scotch 
Highlands. During the winter it wanders south- 
ward, and it is seen fairly frequently on migration 
in autumn in the east and south-east of England, 
where it often settles for a few days on some 
estuary or inland lake, before making the next 
stage on its journey. Its large size, tufted, white- 
marked head, whitish breast, and dark-brown, 
white-flecked back make it easily recognisable, 
as well as the way in which it haunts the waters 
in pursuit of its prey of fish. It is a splendid 
spectacle to see it plunge upon the water with a 
resounding splash, and emerge with the fish held 
in its claws. The female is larger than the male, 
and has more brown on the breast, while the 
immature birds, which are most often seen in 
autumn, are less dark upon the back. A very 
large nest, which is added to year by year, is 
built of sticks, sometimes with turf added, in 
the top of a fir-tree not far from the water, or 
on an isolated rock or ruin. The two or three 
eggs are creamy-white in ground-colour, mag- 
nificently splashed and blotched with reddish or 
purplish-brown. 
P 2 
