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FISH HAWK, OR OSPREY. 
a reddish cream, to nearly a white, splashed and daubed all o er 
with dark Spanish brown, as if done by art.* During the time 
the female is sitting, the male frequently supplies her with 
fish ; though 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 
Harbour river, and near its mouth, was 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 rationality 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, alter- 
nately; 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 becomes shriller as 
she takes to wing, and sails around, sometimes making a 
rapid descent, as if aiming directly for you ; but checking her 
course, and sweeping past, at a short distance over head, her 
wings making a loud whizzing in the air. My worthy friend 
Mr Gardiner informs me, that they have even been known 
* Of the palatableness of these eggs I cannot speak from personal experience; 
bat 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 carried 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. Whether from its effects on the olfactory nerves, (for he said it smelt 
abominably,) on the imagination, or on the stomach alone, is uncertain, but 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. 
