226 
ORDERS OF BIRDS— BIRDS OF PREY 
flying five miles with it, must appeal to every 
man and boy who loves the grasp of a good rod, 
and the musical click of a reel. 
The boat trip up the Shrewsbury River, from 
New York to Long Branch, is worth taking in 
midsummer solely for the sight of the Ospreys, 
winging slowly over the still lagoon, stalking 
their finny prey, and anon plunging with a loud 
AMERICAN OSPREY. 
splash into the water. Sometimes the bold 
fishers go quite out of sight. The most sur- 
prising thing about such performances is the 
size of the fish that an Osprey can lift and carry 
away. 
In carrying a fish, an Osprey always grasps 
it on the back, with one talon well ahead of the 
other, and the head of the fish pointing straight 
forward. This is to secure a minimum of resist- 
ance from the air, and render it an easy matter 
to steer the prize to the home-nest, or to a tall 
tree on which it may be devoured at leisure. It 
is no wonder that a three-pound Osprey carrying 
a one-pound fish is moved to jettison his cargo 
when he sees a hostile bald eagle bearing down 
upon him with empty claws and his decks 
cleared for action. 
The story of the Ospreys of Gardiner’s Island 
is a most interesting chapter in bird-life. The 
owner of that island is a relentless enemy to 
cats and gunners, and a fierce protector of all 
the wild life on the island, which is wholly his. 
His weapons are loaded for hunters only, and 
for several years the Ospreys have bred regu- 
larly around Mr. Gardiner’s house, and all over 
the island. A pair of birds occupies the same 
nest year after year, adding to the mass each 
year, until the nest contains a wagon-load of 
sticks of many sizes, and measures six feet in 
diameter. To-day, strange to relate, some of 
the Ospreys are nesting practically upon the 
ground, serenely confident of their security from 
all harm. 
The Osprey is built like a light-weight athlete, 
all bone, tendon, hard muscle and wing-power, 
and no fat. Its long, half-naked legs and pow- 
erful claws remind one of patent grappling- 
hooks. The wings are long and acutely pointed, 
going well beyond the end of the tail. The 
whole neck and lower surface of the bird is white, 
but the back, wings, and upper surface of the 
tail is dark colored, as also is the upper half of 
the head. The plumage is compact, smooth 
and oily, as befits a diving-bird. 
In summer this bird is at home on the sea- 
coast from Alaska and Hudson Bay to the Gulf 
of Mexico, and along a few rivers, but in winter 
it migrates to southern Florida, the West Indies 
and northern South America. 
The jaunty little Sparrow-Hawk 1 is the 
smallest American hawk, and also the most 
beautiful. Its form is elegant, and its colors 
are varied and pleasing. As if desirous of ad- 
miration, it tolerates man at shorter range than 
any other hawk I know. Its cap is dull blue, 
its throat white with black side-patches, and its 
upper neck and back are bright rusty brown. Its 
breast is salmon color, sparingly spotted, its 
knickerbockers are white, and its tarsi and feet 
are bright yellow. It inhabits the whole United 
States, and on northward to Great Slave Lake, 
but I think it is most plentiful on the prairie 
farms of the middle West. 
As a destroyer of grasshoppers, beetles, crick- 
ets, caterpillars and other insect enemies, this 
little Hawk deserves to rank with the birds most 
beneficial to man. For so small a bird, the 
1 Fal'co spar-ve'ri-us. Length, 9 to 10 inches. 
