The sun., 1903-10-18
CONSIDER THE FISFHAWK.
He Is No Pot Hunter Although He Knows
How to DO the Trick.
From the Chicnno Tribune,

from me NfCnTO 1TtOHNF,
II there is a true sportsman on the West
ern Continent, surely the American osprey.
or flshhawk, may claim tho title. No slaught-
erer Of game is he: he takes what he requires
for food alone. He does not take his finny
prey by thousands in n net. nor does he
poison them nor blow them up and pick
their floating carcasscR from the surface Of
the water: neither does he use deceit and
lure them to destruction by promise OF food.
He ta kes them one at a time, as sportsman
should, using naught but his own good limbs
and the skill which comes OF practice.
Taking his life In his hand. so to speak.
he personally descends into the element Of
his prey not knowing whether he will rise
again into the sunlight or be dragged to
the depths. conquered and dying. by some
monster he can neither overcome nor re-
lease.
The osprey is one OF the largest as well
as one OF the handsomest Of our birds OF
prey, measuring about - inches from
the tip of his bill to the end of his tail,
and upward OF feet inches across his out
spread wings His upper parts are dusky
brown, his underparts white. and his head and
neck strkingly marked with brown and
white.
Ospreys are migratory hawks, breeding
from Hudson Bay and Alaska southwark
throughout the United States and Mexico.
and wintering from the Southern States
to the West Indies and northern South
America In the early spring. however,
they start northward again, and about the
first week in April they may be seen moving
along the const Of New Jersey or Connecticut.
in scattered flocks OF eight or ten. smiling on
outspread wings or tapping in leisurcy
manner, crossing and recrossing each other 3
pathways, bound for their summer homes
Ospreys sometimes breed in colonies,
somatimes in gle pairs. The site selected
for n nest is usually large tree. often
a dead one: but in many cases the top Of
a deserted building, an old windmill or
n telegraph pole ia appropriated. In some
places the birds will build on the side Of
a cliff. and rarely on the ground. They are
said TO mate for life. and return year after
wear to the same nest TO which new layer
Ia added each spring. until the structure
assumes enormous proportions. being four
or tlre feet in diameter and perhaps seven
'efs both pa biras assist in the Incubation, and
when the downy, bright eyed little chicks
he appetites of these hungry Youngsters
Ii is at this season that one may test observ We
the osprey's method Of fishing
water, and there he sails IN wide circles
suddenly the sunlight siints from the silvsry
swinging ffght. steadies himself by tapping
his wings In front Of his body. and prepares
to plunge The next instant he has changed
his mind and once M more h; Go6, scales on out
down out of danger Again the great hawk
parses in his light; he seems 10 stand in mid
air ns he flaps hIs wings and gnIges the posi-
iion OF his prey One moment only and then
shoots downward like n meteor. He strikes
the water with such force that the splash
mEy be heard for long distance, and In
the midst OF fountain Of spray disappears,
As the spIny sinks back into the flood
and the bird Is now here to be seen, with
beating heart I watch ,he spot where be
times the dead bodies Of hawk and fsh
locked fast together. are washed above the
Neptune 70 spare the bird that puts It's trust
him ssd ss s9ss psrSs
slowly ipto the air. A he rises clear Of the
ne holds q fsh.. and as his form comes be-
tween me and the ssy ! can see that the nsh
same wsy head hr.t and y : line With the
sistence TO tho wind But sometimes be doe0