1 14 alt.t.n’s naturalist’s library. 
near the surface of the water, from Salmon and Trout down- 
wards to the smaller species. Its spiky soles and powerful 
talons enable it to hold the fish in security, and so tightly does 
it grasp its prey that the talons are unlocked with difficulty, 
and instances have been known of the bird having been 
carried below the water and drowned, when it has struck a fish 
stronger than itself. 
The favourite breeding-haunt of the Osprey is a forest where 
there is water in the vicinity, in which it can obtain a sufficient 
supply of fish, and solitude and quiet are the conditions which 
it loves best. In America, and even in certain parts of Europe, 
the bird is gregarious, and several pairs nest in company. Mr. 
Seebohm mentions an instance in which he observed them 
thus nesting on an island in a Pomeranian lake, and in Noith 
America as many as three hundred pairs of Ospreys have been 
known to breed in a similar situation. When hunting for its 
prey, this large Fishing-Eagle goes to work very much like a 
gigantic Kestrel, sailing quietly along above the water, and 
occasionally hovering over it, and then descending on the fish 
with a plunge which can be heard for a long distance. The 
bird is said often to disappear beneath the surface of the water, 
while at other times it appears to catch the fish with its talons 
without wetting its feet to any great extent. The close-set 
feathering of the thighs and the bare tarsus and toes arc dif- 
ferent from the general aspect of an Accipitrine bird’s leg, but 
the long thigh-feathers and feathered feet of an ordinary Eagle 
would be decidedly a drawback to a bird like the Osprey, whose 
legs are so often in the w'ater. 
jfest. This is a gigantic structure, whether it be placed on 
a tree or on some ruin in an inland lake. Mr. Seebohm 
writes ; “ From the great weight and bulkiness of the Osprey’s 
nest and from the fact that the same situation is resorted to 
for many years in succession, the branches which support it 
are not unfrequcntly distorted in growth and flattened. In 
other cases the Osprey has several favourite eyries in one 
chosen locality, and appears to utilise them in turn, like the 
White-tailed Eagle or the Peregrine. As a rule the largest tree 
in the forest, the patriarch of the timber, is selected to hold 
the nest, which is built at varying heights from the ground. 
