iiKijority of the I)ir(ls wliieh are shot in the fall hy hunters 
are youne' birds of the year, leaving- us to conclude that the 
adults arc the first to depart, while the young- follow as thev 
grow stronger and are able to stand the long flight to \varmer 
climes. Their winter home extends to the West Indies and 
Xorthern South America, while birds arc found resident in the 
warmer southern states. 
1 he Osprey is one of the most peaceable birds we have, 
rarely molesting other siK'cies, except on provocation, as is well 
instanced by Mr. (dover Allen in his admirable article on the 
•■breeding Habits of the Fish Hawk” in the Auk for October. 
1892, as follows: “In the swamp near the I'ish hawks’ nest 
was a colony of Night Herons, nesting in the smaller trees 
near the swamp. Almost daily a flock of Crows from Con¬ 
necticut were accustomed to rob this heronry, covering the 
ground with the shells of the eggs they had eaten, and oc¬ 
casionally treating a few Fishhawks' nests in the same wa\'. 
I he Fishhawks seemed to unjustly accuse the Herons of the 
robbery, as the Herons were constantly persecuted by the 
Hawks. Whenever a Heron apj^eared he was instantly set upon 
by one or more of them, and the Heron would seek safety in 
the thick underbrush where the Hawks could not follow it. 
Herons were killed, however, almost daily by the Hawks.” 
1 be food of the Osprey consists almost exclusively of 
flsh and in this state the abundance of shad, alewives and men- 
h.adtn, which are found m the bay, and m their spawning sea¬ 
son, in the W’arren and Kickemuit Rivers, no doubt is account¬ 
able for their love of Bristol County as a summer home, for 
where food is abundant birds will always be found. But it is 
known to feed on reptiles and batrachians which infest swamps 
in localities where it has its nest, and there are numerous rec¬ 
ords of its feeding on black and w'ater snakes. 
1 be fish are captured alive and vary in size and weight, 
and it has been known to catch them weighing five or six 
pounds, while there arc numerous records of its striking one 
t(X) large to carry and fly with, and l:>eing unable to extricate 
its talons it has been dragged beneath the water again and 
again until it was finally drowned. 
1 he Ospreys in this state usually nest in the tops of trees 
