. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. DlSTiycTIVE :s OF OU'IS. 2'M season, when it makes its nest at some distance from its feeding haunts. Its food consists entirely of iish, and it is capable of cari'ying off one of considerable size; in the capture of its prey it is greatly jvided by its reversible toes, and by the roughness of tlie sole of the foot, which is covered witli minute spikes, and these are, of course, of great assistance to the bird m holding such a strong and slippery prey as a large fish often proves to 6e. Professor Newton writes of one living in the
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. DlSTiycTIVE :s OF OU'IS. 2'M season, when it makes its nest at some distance from its feeding haunts. Its food consists entirely of iish, and it is capable of cari'ying off one of considerable size; in the capture of its prey it is greatly jvided by its reversible toes, and by the roughness of tlie sole of the foot, which is covered witli minute spikes, and these are, of course, of great assistance to the bird m holding such a strong and slippery prey as a large fish often proves to 6e. Professor Newton writes of one living in the Zoological Gardens, that "when a fish was given to it, it was obsei-ved to seize it across the body, placing the inner and outer toes at right angles with the middle and hind toes, and, digging in the claws, it held the fish most tii-mly by four opjiosite points, not I'elaxiiig its hold or altering the position of the toes, but picking out the portions of flesh from between them with great ; Occasionally, the Osprey attacks a fish beyond its strength, and it is then drawn under the water, and drowned. Mi-. Dresser saw this happen in the Bay of Fundy, when a Fish Hawk was unable to release itself from a heavy fish, and, after being dragged under the water time after time, wa"^ \iltimately carried out to sea, and disappeared. Mr. Collett, of Christiania, tells us that in one of the Norwegian lakes a huge Pike was caught, with the remains of an Osprey's skeleton still attached to its back. Sometimes, on landing its prey, the bird is unable to extricate its talons, and is captui-ed alive. The nest of the Osprey is a large structure, and is variously situated, according to the nature of the locality. It is generally j)laced on a tree; but in situations where there are no trees the position chosen is on a large rock or stone, very often on the islands in the middle of the lakes wliich it frequents. The eggs lu-e generally three 'u\ number, sometimes four, an
Size: 1711px × 1461px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
