THE OSPREYS. 
II3 
tipped with white, and barred with sepia-brown and ashy- 
brown alternately. 
Nestling. — Covered with sooty-brown down, the down of the 
centre of the back, along the bend of the wing, and on the 
breast and flanks dusky white ; the dorsal feathers dark 
brown, broadly tipped with ochraceous-buff j crown and ear- 
coverts blackish ; eyebrow and throat white. 
Range in Great Britain.— Though formerly said to breed on 
the south coast of England, and in the Lake district up to 
within a century ago, the eyries of the species are now con- 
fined to a few plat-es in Scotland, 'fhe species is, in fact, 
threatened with extinction in the British Islands, as its eggs 
still command a high price, and therefore afford a strong 
temptation to the keepers of those few places in Scotland 
in which the .species is still preserved. At present, however, 
the Osprey breeds in Scotland, but it is only owing to the in- 
telligent protection of a few landowners that the species has 
persevered so long as an indigenous British species. 
A considerable number of Ospreys occur in various portions 
of our islands, on the inland lakes and the sea- shores, especially 
in the estuaries of our southern rivers, and usually in autumn. 
Most of these specimens are young individuals, and it is only 
during these wanderings that the Osprey has occurred in Ire- 
land at all, though, as Mr. Howard Saunders remarks, there 
are in that island numbers of suitable places for its nidifica- 
tion. 
Range outside the British Islands — The Osprey is found in nearly 
every part of the world, but only in places suited to its shy 
habits, and affording it a supply of its food. It breeds through- 
out Europe, Asia, and Africa, but in the latter continent it is 
probably only a migrant, though it nests on the Dahlak Islands 
in the Red Sea. In Australia and the neighbouring Moluccas, 
the Ospreys are smaller and rather darker in plumage, and 
have been separated as a distinct species under the name of 
Pandion leucocephalus. The Australian Ospreys, however, can 
only be looked upon as a smaller race of our European bird. 
Hahits — The food of the Osprey consists entirely of fish, and 
on inland waters it catches any kind that can be reached easily 
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