The Osprey and its Prey. 
The beams of the sun, now drawing nearer, 
have scarcely tempered the rivers and bays 
from their icy chill. Expectant, impatient 
fishermen are awaiting that avian signal which 
shall proclaim to them that the time has come 
for them to eke their substance from the com- 
ing schools of herring as they return to then- 
spawning grounds. The experience of former 
years is again renewed when the flute-like 
whistle of the Osprey is heard, but not alone, 
it is almost a chorus, and the eve can detect 
them s> 
Even al 
their nn 
ent fror 
about in 
ing socit 
knowloOLOGIST 
the sea! 
[Yol. 12-No. 8 
r ihe l p ro babl e Occurrence of the Ivory - 
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the two billed Woodpecker on Pritchard s 
found t 
The ( 
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before 
Island, South Carolina. 
BY WALTER HOXIE, FROGMORE, S. C. 
While talking recently with one of the most 
successful and intelligent of our native hunt- 
ers, he mentioned having seen last winter on 
similar Jolifr$tion orfesembfc’eiicl/'otlTei-, oven 
eggs from the, same sets,. contrast more strong- 
ly than those 'from different clutches. This 
variation is as perceivable in the eggs of the 
Red-tail, as those Vf the present species. They 
usually resort to large woods, and place the 
nest in a crotch of some tall tree, of good 
sized diameter of trunk, and often occupy the 
nest for successive seasons ; even when persist- 
ently harriedyby the collector they will return 
and build Ip the immediate vicinity, as has 
been the case with a pair from which I have 
secured clutches every spring since ’78; they 
resorting, to the same grove', for nidification, 
building a new nest each season. 
Broad-winged Hawk, ( Buteo pqnnsylvanicus.) 
Onfy one instance of its capture in this coun- 
ty : Acushuet, April T2, ’82, (Brown). It has 
been recorded as breeding in this , section of 
Hew England. , 
Rough-legged Hawk, ( Archibuteo lagopus 
sancti-johannis .) Another rare occurrence of 
this species is noted, viz., Attleboro’ Starch, 
’81, (Reid), and is the only record of its 'cap- 
ture within our limits. 
Bald Eagle, ( Hallimatus leucocephalus. This 
the largest of our raptores, occurs so rarely, as 
We were sitting upon the piazza facing 
south, about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. 
The river runs past the house at about 
eighty yards distance. Suddenly I heard 
a wild scream of exultation. I thought it 
was an eagle, but, looking up, there over 
the river was a flock of crows who were 
attending a convention in a neighboring 
grove. Passing through this noisy flock I 
saw, rising heavily, a large bird weighed 
down by something which he bore in his 
talons. After rising above the crows, he 
passed directly over our heads, bearing 
away across the rice fields towards the dis- 
tant wood. Then I recognized, with a 
shout of satisfaction, a magnificent Osprey, 
bearing in his grasp a giant cat fish, the 
fish appearing even longer than the bird, 
and it was a hard tug for even her power- 
ful wings. I could plainly see the feelers 
projecting from the cat’s jaws, and recog- 
nized the shape of his head — while the 
plumage of the beautiful bird was glisten- 
ing plainly in the sunlight. It was a 
grand sight-! I think the Osprey was a 
female — it being too large, it seemed, for a 
male, for, as you well know, “the mare is 
the best horse,” “ the wife wears the 
breeches,” in this case — the female being 
the more powerful and beautiful bird in 
the raptores generally. — Rev. J. Bachman 
Haskell, White Hall. S. C. _ „ 
Q.& Q. Vli .May.15. 1882. p. Hi 
