AC Cl P IT RES.
FA LCONIDJi.
P a n d io n h a l i je e t u s (Linnseus*).
THE OSPREY, OR FISHING HAWK.
Pandion haliceetus.
P an dio n , Sa v ifjn y f.—Beak short, strong, rounded, and broad ; cutting edge
nearly straight. Nostrils oblong-oval, oblique. Wings long; second and thiid
quill-feathers longest. Legs strong and muscular: tarsi short, covered with
reticulated scales. Toes free, nearly equal; outer toe reversible ; all armed with
strong, curved, and sharp claws ; under surface of the toes rough, and covered
with small pointed scales. Feathers wanting the accessory plumule.
T h is bird, from its liabit of feeding almost exclusively on
fish, must be looked for near the sea-shore, or about rivers
and large lakes which may be expected to afford a plentiful
supply of the particular food it is known most to delight in.
The manner in which the Osprey seeks and obtains its prey
* Falco halicetus, Linmeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 129 (1766).
b Systeme des Oiseaux de l’ilgypte et de la Syrie, p. 9 (1810).
has been admirably described by ornithologists in America,
where the bird is sufficiently numerous to afford excellent
opportunities of observing its actions. On one island near’
the eastern extremity of Long Island, New York, three
hundred nests were counted. The old birds were rearing
their young close together, living as peaceably as so many
Rooks, and were equally harmless towards other birds.
“ When looking out for its prey,” says Sir John Richardson,
“ it sails with great ease and elegance, in undulating and
curved lines, at a considerable altitude above the water, from
whence it precipitates itself upon its quarry and bears it off
in its claws; or it not unfrequently, on the fish moving to
too great a depth, stops suddenly in its descent, and hovers
for a few seconds in the air, like a Kite or a Kestrel, suspending
itself in the same spot by a quick flapping of its
wings; it then makes a second and, in general, unerring dart
upon its prey, or regains the former altitude by an elegant
spiral flight. It seizes the fish with its claws, sometimes
scarcely appearing to dip its feet in the water, and at other
times plunging entirely under the surface with force sufficient
to throw up a considerable spray. I t emerges again,
however, so speedily, as to render it evident that it does not
attack fish swimming at any great depth.” Though this last
remark is no doubt true, it may be observed that an instance
came to Mr. Wolley’s knowledge of an Osprey being caught
in a fishing-net and drowned. Mr. Lloyd has recorded the
same fate happening to one which had struck so large a fish
that the bird was pulled under water; and Mr. Knox mentions
a case in which the bird, having landed its prey, was
unable to extricate its talons therefrom, and so fell a victim
to the crook of a shepherd who had witnessed the capture.
The versatility of the outer toe of the Osprey, the strength,
curvature, and sharpness of its claws, and the roughness of
the soles of its feet, are peculiarities of structure adapted to
the better securing its slippery prey ; and the shortness of
its thigh-feathers, unusual in the Falcon tribe, is also evidently
connected with its fishing habits. A bird in the
Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, when a fish