i66 
NATURE STUDY. 
his late perch, as a kingfisher would have done ? No, how 
disappointing ! He flies off to the distant side-hill, as if 
to eat in privacy, where prying eyes may not reach. 
What will the others do ? Slowly the second imitates 
the example of its mate, and flies away with its breakfast. 
But the third still sits in stately silence, so alluring that, 
with curiosity to see how near he will allow us to approach, 
we dip the oars and circle, with arduous care, around 
clump on clump of alders, until we have approached 
within fifty feet; but not a stroke nearer is endurable to 
even this equable bird, and he, too, drops from his perch, 
flies low above the meadow, and, mounting, follows, per¬ 
haps to share with the others, should a morsel yet be left. 
That afternoon one of the ospreys returned, and again 
we had an exhibition of skilled fishing, bringing from 
those much-fished waters “finny prizes” of such dimen¬ 
sions as w T ould be the envy of fishermen. The birds, the 
American Ospreys, or Fish Hawks (Pandion haliaetus car- 
olinensis), appear in April and remain several days. Fast 
year they arrived April 17 and remained until the twenti¬ 
eth. I once saw one of these birds, at another point of the 
lake, in August. 
Dead specimens of wild things are valuable to us, but, 
better still, fill your heart with the inspiration and grand¬ 
eur of these things, and the wonder of it all, by seeking 
them in nature’s enchanting background. 
Wanted: Part 2, Tuckerman’s Synopsis of N. A. 
Lichens; Journal of Mycology, Vol. I, or Nos. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 
10, and 11; Insect Life, Vol. II, No 2; Vol. VI, Nos. 1 and 
2. T. J. Fitzpatrick, Box 1497, Iowa City, Iowa. 
Wanted: Shrews, from any part of New Hampshire. 
Forward promptly, by express, at my expense. Don’t send 
moles or mice. George E. Burnham, 
Nature Study Press, Manchester, N.H. 
