FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 41 
our trees have not afforded a convenient site for one of 
their habitations since.” 
About the first of May, the female fish-hawk begins 
to lay her eggs, which are commonly three in number, 
sometimes only two, and rarely four. They are some- 
what larger than those of the common hen, and nearly 
of the same shape. The ground colour varies, in 
different eggs, from a reddish cream, to nearly a white, 
splashed and daubed all over 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 circum- 
stances of the case. A pair of these birds, on the south 
side of Great Egg Harbour river, and near its mouth, 
were 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 con- 
tinued both before and after incubation. Some animals, 
w r ho 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, alternately; one parent being always within a 
' * Of the palatableness of these eggs I cannot speak from personal 
experience ; but the following incident will shew that the experi- 
ment 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 smdt 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. 
