ensis, was applied in 1870 by l\id,q;way to distinguish it from 
the European type. 
Its common name, osprey, appears to be a corruption of 
the word ossifraga or bone breaker (from os, bone, frangerc, 
to break), used as long ago as Pliny’s time, and was originally 
coined for a very different bird, the Lammergeyer of Southern 
Europe. 
Nearly cosmopolitan in its range, it is found in tropical and 
temperate America in general, and as far north as Eludson Bay 
and Alaska, while a single specimen was obtained at Godba- 
vcn, Greenland, and it is known to breed beyond the Arctic 
circle. Within the borders of this state its nesting range is 
with a few exceptions confined almost wholly to that part of 
the mainland east of Xarragansett Bay extending to the state 
line and almost wholly in Bristol County. The most northerlv 
situated nest and occupied quite recently is in Barrington, while 
to the south, two or three nests are found on the Island of 
Rhode Island near Portsmouth and on Prudence Island. On 
the western shore of the bay they have never built their nests 
in the same numbers as on the eastern shore, and there are but 
three or four nests which 1 have seen, two on Potowomut Neck, 
one on Warwick Neck, and several years ago there was one 
well inland east of Hillsgrove which could be seen from the 
main road. In the late summer and autumn after the young- 
are able to fly they are often seen inland followdng the rivers 
and ponds and also along the south shore. 
Being very punctual in their arrival from the south, they 
are with the Wild Geese, looked upon as the first harbinger 
of the breaking uj) of severe winter, and of settled spring 
w'eather. In'1904 tlie first bird ai-»peared near Bristol on Marcb 
26, while this year, 1905, they arrived one day later, Marcb 
27. During the first week of April they have all arrived, and 
at once set about to repair any damage the nest may have re¬ 
ceived from the winter storms. The return movement to their 
sonlbern habitat commences in ..Vugust, and probably their 
j)lace is taken by birds from breeding places in the more north¬ 
ern states wdiich pass on, or linger as the weather may l)e fa¬ 
vorable or not, as late as October or early November. A large 
Plate T shows a set of Osprey taken 20 years ago, in Barrington, hv Mr. M.W. 
f'urn^r. I'hcy -‘rf tmw in the P . W . P . Mm 5.^*1 r»i St^tc ^ f . 
