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closely are not afforded in this country, but in America, where it is abundant, these opportunities occur, and Audubon, Wilson, and others, have fully described them: the former gives us this picture of connubial felicity, the more pleasing because it refers to one of the rapacious birds, and contrasts strongly with our ideas of its habits:

There is a strong attachment between the male and female birds. The former assists in incubation, assiduously supplying its mate with food, though each in its turn goes in quest of some for itself. At such times the male bird is now and then observed rising to a great height in the air, over the spot where his mate is seated, ascending by continued flappings almost in a direct line, meeting the breeze with its white breast, and sometimes uttering a cackling kind of note. On attaining his utmost elevation, where, indeed, no human eye can perceive him, he utters a loud shriek, dives smoothly on half-extended pinions, and then, expanding his wings and tail, he glides towards the female bird on her nest in a beautifully curved line. Partially raising herself from her eggs, she utters a low cry, resumes her former posture, and her delighted partner flies off to the sea to regale her with a favourite dish.

We may judge of the great strength of the Osprey by the fact that it has been known to carry off a fish heavier than itself.

'While in search of food,' says Audubon, 'it flies with easy flappings at a moderate height above the water, and with apparent listlessness, although in reality it is keenly observing the objects beneath. No sooner does it spy a fish suited to its taste, than it checks its course with a sudden shake of its wings and tail, which gives it the appearance of being poised in the air for a moment; after which it plunges headlong with great rapidity into the water, to secure its prey, or continue its flight, if disappointed, by having observed the fish sink deeper.'

The Italians compare the sudden descent of this bird on its prey to the fall of lead, and call it Angiusta plumberia, the Leaden Eagle. So Gibson, in his 'Walks in a Forest,' says:

A FISHING EXCURSION.

The Osprey, plunging from the cloudy height
With leaden fall precipitate; the waves

Cleaves with deep dashing breast and labouring rises,
Talons and beak o'erloaded.

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We can only find fault here with the term 'cloudy height,' for it does not appear that the bird swoops at any very great height on its prey, although Wilson gives it a loftier range than Audubon his whole description of the flight of the bird is so graphic that we are tempted to quote it :

The flight of the Fish Hawk, his manoeuvres while in search of fish, and his manner of seizing his prey, are deserving of particular notice. In leaving the nest he usually flies direct till he comes to the sea, then sails round in easy curving lines, turning sometimes in the air, as on a pivot, apparently 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 wing, distinguishing him from all other Hawks. The height at which he thus elegantly glides is various, from one to one hundred and fifty, and two hundred feet, sometimes much higher, all the while calmly reconnoitring 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 appears to be fixed in air, flapping his wings. This object, however, he abandons, or rather the fish he had in his eye 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 in another course, as if ashamed that a second victim had escaped him. He now sails at a short height above the surface, and by a zigzag descent, and without seeming to drop his feet, seizes a fish, which, after carrying a short distance, he probably drops or yields up to the Bald Eagle, and again ascends, by easy spiral 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 aërial 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

36

A SONG OF WELCOME.

his claws his struggling prey, which he always carries head foremost, and having risen a few feet above the surface shakes himself, as a water spaniel would do, and directs his course directly for the land. If the wind blow hard, and his nest be in the quarter from whence it comes, it is amusing to observe with what judgement and exertion he beats to windward; not in a direct line, that is in the wind's eye, but by making successive tacks to gain his purpose.

The author here quoted also tells us that the regular arrival of this noted bird at the vernal equinox, when the busy season of fishing commences, adds peculiar interest to its first appearance, and procures it many a benediction from the fishermen, and he illustrates this circumstance with these lines:

Soon as the sun, great ruler of the year,

Bends to his northern climes his bright career,
And from the caves of ocean calls from sleep
The finny shoals and myriads of the deep;
While freezing tempests back to Greenland ride,
And day and night the equal hours divide.
True to the season, o'er our sea-beat shore,
The sailing Osprey high is seen to soar;
With broad unmoving wing, and circling slow,
Marks each loose straggler in the deep below;
Sweeps down like lightning! plunges with a roar!
And bears his struggling victim to the shore.
The long-housed fisherman beholds with joy
The well-known signals of his rough employ,
And as he bears his net and oars along,
He hails the welcome season with a song.

The Osprey sails above the sound,

The geese are gone, the gulls are flying;
The herring shoals swarm thick around,
The nets are launched, the boats are plying,
Yo-ho! my hearts! let's seek the deep,

Raise high the song, and cheerly wish her,
Still as the bending net we sweep,

God bless the Fish Hawk and the Fisher!

CHAPTER II.

FALCONS: GYR, PEREGRINE, HOBBY, RED-FOOTED FALCONS MERLIN KESTREL.

Now soars on high, magnificently proud,
Yon gallant Falcon, 'mid the scudding cloud,
Wide scorning heaven's azure free and far,

Daring the lordly Heron to the war. — H. D. M.

-

E have now to speak of the true Falcons, of which we

stands THE GYR, or GER-FALCON, sometimes called the Iceland, or Greenland, Falcon - a name indicative of the northern regions, where it is chiefly to be found. It is a beautiful and powerful bird, and was highly valued, in the times when falconry was practised, for its courage and docility; a pair of Ger Falcons was then a suitable gift for a king. Falco gyrfalco, or Falco Islandicus, is the scientific name applied to this bird by most naturalists. It has a remarkably compact and robust form, and all its motions indicate spirit, activity, and vigour. The plumage of both sexes is white, with grey markings. Specimens of the bird have been frequently taken in this country; but it does not breed with us, and can only be considered as a stray visitor: therefore it need not occupy much of our attention. Dr. Richardson mentions that, in his journeyings over some of the most sterile wastes of North America, he was attacked by a pair of these birds, while climbing in the vicinity of their nest, which was built on a lofty precipice, on the borders of Point Lake, in lat. 651°. He says: They flew in circles, uttering loud and harsh screams, and alternately

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stooping with such velocity that their motion through the air produced a loud rushing noise. They struck their claws within an inch or two of my head. I endeavoured, by keeping the barrel of my gun close to my cheek, and suddenly elevating its muzzle when they were in the act of striking, to ascertain whether they had the power of instantaneously changing the direction of their rapid course,

GYR FALCON.

and found they invariably rose above the obstacle with the quickness of thought, showing equal acuteness of vision and power of motion. Although their flight was much more rapid, they bore considerable resemblance to the Snowy Owl.' Another observer of the habit of this species says: 'The command which these birds have in the air is truly wonderful. A few strokes of their powerful wings will send them up till they are hardly visible, or bring them down from the top of their flight to within a short distance of the ground. At times they will ride motionless; and

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