benefit in keeping away other hawks, which are wont to steal 
a chicken now and then. However this may be, they aie surely 
as good as a watch dog in giving warning of a person coming 
near, for they will give a shrill whistle upon their approach 
within a short distance of the nest, and this is one of the rea¬ 
sons for the rigid protection given them. 
The Osprey’s manner of flight is characteristic and nc^cr 
was better description written than that by Alexander Wilson, 
which I quote: “The flight of the Fishhawk, his maneuvers 
while in search of fish, and his manner in seizing his prey, arc 
deserving of particular notice. In leaving the nest, he usually 
flies direct till he comes to the sea, then sails around, in easy 
curving lines, turning sometimes in the air as on a pivot, appar¬ 
ently without the least exertion, rarely moving the wings, his 
legs extended in a straight line behind, and his remarkable 
length, and curvature or bend of wings, distinguishing him 
from all other Hawks. The height at which he thus elegantly 
glides is various, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
feet, sometimes much higher, all the while calmly reconnoitcr- 
ing the face of the deep below. Suddenly he is seen to check 
his course, as if struck by a particular object which he seems to 
survey for a few moments with such steadiness, that he a])]iears 
fixed in air, flapping his wings. This object, however, he aban¬ 
dons, or rather the fish he had his eye on has disappeared, and 
he is again seen sailing around as before. Now his attention is 
again arrested, and he descends with great rapidity ; but ere he 
reaches the surface, shoots off on another course, as if ashamed 
that a second victim had escaped him. Now he sails at a short 
height above the surface, and by a zigzag descent, and without 
seeming to dip his feet in the water, seizes a fish, which, after 
carrying a short distance, he probably drops or yields up to the 
Bald Eagle, and again ascends, by easy sj^iral circles, to the 
higher regions of the air. where he glides about in all the ease 
and majesty of his species. At once from this sublime aerial 
height, he descends like a perpendicular torrent, plunging into 
the sea with a loud rushing sound, and with the certainty of a 
rifle. In a few moments he emerges, bearing in his claws his 
struggling prey, which he always carries head foremost, and, 
having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes himself as a 
spaniel would do, and directs his heavy and laborious course 
directly for the land.” 
