20 
FALCONID7E. 
other nest at all like it. There was a nest for some years 
on the sloping trunk of a tree which several persons have 
described to me. The birds are very constant year after 
year in returning to their old stations, and even after one 
or both birds have been killed in the previous season I 
have frequently" seen individuals flying near the now 
deserted eyrie.” 
Mr. Hancock has described to me the situation of a 
nest from which he took the eggs. It was placed upon 
the highest point of a ruin, standing on an elevated piece 
of ground surrounded on all sides to a distance by a beau¬ 
tiful unbroken slope of grass, giving the bird an uninter¬ 
rupted view of any approaching foe. 
Mr. Selby mentions his having seen the Osprey on 
Loch Awe, “ where an eyrie is annually established upon 
the ruins of a castle near the southern extremity of the 
lake, and another in a similar situation, nearly opposite 
the egress of the river Awe.” 
With all their ingenuity Ornithologists have not been 
able to puzzle out a distinction where there is no differ¬ 
ence between the American Osprey and our own. 
For a further account of this species I have therefore 
had recourse to the faithful description of Wilson, whose 
opportunities of observing it were frequent, for so abund¬ 
ant is it in America, that no less than three hundred nests 
have been counted at one time on an island near New 
York, the old birds living together peaceably in close 
proximity, like so many rooks. 
“ The nest of the Fish-hawk is usually built on the top 
of a dead or decaying tree, sometimes not more than fif¬ 
teen, often upwards of fifty, feet from the ground. 
“ It has been remarked by the people of the sea-coast 
that the most thriving tree will die in a few years after 
being taken possession of by the Fish-hawk. 
