After remaining for some time on the nest along with the others, the old
male again resolved to "go a-fishing," and with this intent he shot out
from the tree, and commenced wheeling above the water. The boys, having
nothing better to engage them, sat watching his motions, while they
freely conversed about his habits and other points in his natural
history. Lucien informed them that the osprey is a bird common to both
Continents, and that it is often seen upon the shores of the
Mediterranean, pursuing the finny tribes there, just as it does in
America. In some parts of Italy it is called the "leaden eagle,"
because its sudden heavy plunge upon the water is fancied to resemble
the falling of a piece of lead.
While they were discoursing, the osprey was seen to dip once or twice
towards the surface of the water, and then suddenly check himself, and
mount upward again. These manoeuvres were no doubt caused by the fish
which he intended to "hook" having suddenly shifted their quarters.
Most probably experience had taught them wisdom, and they knew the
osprey as their most terrible enemy. But they were not to escape him at
all times. As the boys watched the bird, he was seen to poise himself
for an instant in the air, then suddenly closing his wings, he shot
vertically downward. So rapid was his descent, that the eye could only
trace it like a bolt of lightning. There was a sharp whizzing sound in
the air--a plash was heard--then the smooth bosom of the water was seen
to break, and the white spray rose several feet above the surface. For
an instant the bird was no longer seen. He was underneath, and the
place of his descent was marked by a patch of foam. Only a single
moment was he out of sight. The next he emerged, and a few strokes of
his broad wing carried him into the air, while a large fish was seen
griped in his claws. As the voyageurs had before noticed, the fish was
carried head-foremost, and this led them to the conclusion that in
striking his prey beneath the water the osprey follows it and aims his
blow from behind.
After mounting a short distance the bird paused for a moment in the air,
and gave himself a shake, precisely as a dog would do after coming out
of water. He then directed his flight, now somewhat slow and heavy,
toward the nest. On reaching the tree, however, there appeared to be
some mismanagement. The fish caught among the branches as he flew
inward. Perhaps the presence of the camp had distracted his attention,
and rendered him less careful. At all events, the prey was seen to drop
from his talons; and bounding from branch to branch, went tumbling down
to the bottom of the tree.
Nothing could be more opportune than this, for Francois had not been
able to get a "nibble" during the whole day, and a fresh fish for dinner
was very desirable to all. Francois and Basil had both started to their
feet, in order to secure the fish before the osprey should pounce down
and pick it up; but Lucien assured them that they, need be in no hurry
about that, as the bird would not touch it again after he had once let
it fall. Hearing this, they took their time about it, and walked
leisurely up to the tree, where they found the fish lying. After taking
it up they were fain to escape from the spot, for the effluvium arising
from a mass of other fish that lay in a decomposed state around the tree
was more than any delicate pair of nostrils could endure. The one they
had secured proved to be a very fine salmon of not less than six pounds
weight, and therefore much heavier than the bird itself! The track of
the osprey's talons was deeply marked; and by the direction in which the
creature was scored, it was evident the bird had seized it from behind.
The old hawks made a considerable noise while the fish was being carried
away; but they soon gave up their squealing, and, once more hovering out
over the river, sailed about with their eyes bent upon the water below.
"What a number of fish they must kill!" said Francois. "They don't
appear to have much difficulty about it. I should think they get as
much as they can eat. See! there again! Another, I declare!"
As Francois spake the male osprey was seen to shoot down as before, and
this time, although he appeared scarcely to dip his foot in the water,
rose up with a fish in his talons.
"They have sometimes others to provide for besides themselves," remarked
Lucien. "For instance, the bald eagle--"
Lucien was interrupted by a cackling scream, which was at once
recognised as that of the very bird whose name had just escaped his
lips. All eyes were instantly turned in the direction whence it came--
which was from the opposite side of the river--and there, just in the
act of launching itself from the top of a tall tree, was the great enemy
of the osprey--the white-headed eagle himself!
"Now a chase!" cried Francois, "yonder comes the big robber!"
With some excitement of feeling, the whole party watched the movements
of the birds. A few strokes of the eagle's wing brought him near; but
the osprey had already heard his scream, and knowing it was no use
carrying the fish to his nest, turned away from it, and rose spirally
upward, in the hope of escaping in that direction. The eagle followed,
beating the air with his broad pinions, as he soared after. Close
behind him went the female osprey, uttering wild screams, flapping her
wings against his very beak, and endeavouring to distract his attention
from the chase. It was to no purpose, however, as the eagle full well
knew her object, and disregarding her impotent attempts, kept on in
steady flight after her mate. This continued until the birds had
reached a high elevation, and the ospreys, from their less bulk, were
nearly out of sight. But the voyageurs could see that the eagle was on
the point of overtaking the one that carried the fish. Presently, a
glittering object dropped down from the heavens, and fell with a plunge
upon the water. It was the fish, and almost at the same instant was
heard the "whish!" of the eagle, as the great bird shot after it.
Before reaching the surface, however, his white tail and wings were seen
to spread suddenly, checking his downward course; and then, with a
scream of disappointment, he flew off in a horizontal direction, and
alit upon the same tree from which he had taken his departure. In a
minute after the ospreys came shooting down, in a diagonal line, to
their nest; and, having arrived there, a loud and apparently angry
consultation was carried on for some time, in which the young birds bore
as noisy a part as either of their parents.
"It's a wonder," said Lucien, "the eagle missed the fish--he rarely
does. The impetus which he can give his body enables him to overtake a
falling object before it can reach the earth. Perhaps the female osprey
was in his way, and hindered him."
"But why did he not pick it up in the water?" demanded Francois.
"Because it went to the bottom, and he could not reach it--that's
clear."
It was Basil who made answer, and the reason he assigned was the true
one.
"It's too bad," said Francois, "that the osprey, not half so big a bird,
must support this great robber-tyrant by his industry."
"It's no worse than among our own kind," interposed Basil. "See how the
white man makes the black one work for him here in America. That,
however, is the _few_ toiling for the _million_. In Europe the case is
reversed. There, in every country, you see the million toiling for the
few--toiling to support an oligarchy in luxurious ease, or a monarch in
barbaric splendour."
"But why do they do so? the fools!" asked Francois, somewhat angrily.
"Because they know no better. That oligarchy, and those monarchs, have
taken precious care to educate and train them to the belief that such is
the _natural_ state of man. They furnish them with school-books, which
are filled with beautiful sophisms--all tending to inculcate principles
of endurance of wrong, and reverence for their wrongers. They fill
their rude throats with hurrah songs that paint false patriotism in
glowing colours, making loyalty--no matter to whatsoever despot--the
greatest of virtues, and revolution the greatest of crimes; they
studiously divide their subjects into several creeds, and then, playing
upon the worst of all passions--the passion of religious bigotry--easily
prevent their misguided helots from uniting upon any point which would
give them a real reform. Ah! it is a terrible game which the present
rulers of Europe are playing!"
It was Basil who gave utterance to these sentiments, for the young
republican of Louisiana had already begun to think strongly on political
subjects. No doubt Basil would one day be an M.C.
"The bald eagles have been much blamed for their treatment of the
ospreys, but," said Lucien, "perhaps they have more reason for levying
their tax than at first appears. It has been asked: Why they do not
capture the fish themselves? Now, I apprehend, that there is a
_natural_ reason why they do not. As you have seen, the fish are not
always caught upon the surface. The osprey has often to plunge beneath
the water in the pursuit, and Nature has gifted him with power to do so,
which, if I am not mistaken, she has denied to the eagles. The latter
are therefore compelled, in some measure, to depend upon the former for
a supply. But the eagles sometimes do catch the fish themselves, when
the water is sufficiently shallow, or when their prey comes near enough
to the surface to enable them to seize it."
"Do they ever kill the ospreys?" inquired Francois.
"I think not," replied Lucien; "that would be `killing the goose,'
etcetera. They know the value of their tax-payers too well to get rid
of them in that way. A band of ospreys, in a place where there happens
to be many of them together, have been known to unite and drive the
eagles off. That, I suppose, must be looked upon in the light of a
successful _revolution_."
The conversation was here interrupted by another incident. The ospreys
had again gone out fishing, and, at this moment, one of them was seen to
pounce down and take a fish from the water. It was a large fish, and,
as the bird flew heavily upward, the eagle again left its perch, and
gave chase. This time the osprey was overtaken before it had got two
hundred yards into the air, and seeing it was no use attempting to carry
off the prey, it opened its claws and let it drop. The eagle turned
suddenly, poised himself a moment, and then shot after the falling fish.
Before the latter had got near the ground, he overtook and secured it
in his talons. Then, arresting his own flight by the sudden spread of
his tail, he winged his way silently across the river, and disappeared
among the trees upon the opposite side. The osprey, taking the thing as
a matter of course, again descended to the proper elevation, and betook
himself to his work. Perhaps he grinned a little like many another
royal tax-payer, but he knew the tax had to be paid all the same, and he
said nothing.
An incident soon after occurred that astonished and puzzled our party
not a little. The female osprey, that all this time seemed to have had
but poor success in her fishing, was now seen to descend with a rush,
and plunge deeply into the wave. The spray rose in a little cloud over
the spot, and all sat watching with eager eyes to witness the result.
What was their astonishment when, after waiting many seconds, the bird
still remained under water! Minutes passed, and still she did not come
up. _She came up no more_! The foam she had made in her descent
floated away--the bosom of the water was smooth as glass--not a ripple
disturbed its surface. They could have seen the smallest object for a
hundred yards or more around the spot where she had disappeared. It was
impossible she could have emerged without them seeing her. Where, then,
had she gone? This, as I have said, puzzled the whole party; and formed
a subject of conjecture and conversation for the rest of that day, and
also upon the next. Even Lucien was unable to solve the mystery. It
was a point in the natural history of the osprey unknown to him. Could
she have drowned herself? Had some great fish, the "gar pike," or some
such creature, got hold of and swallowed her? Had she dashed her head
against a rock, or become entangled in weeds at the bottom of the river?
All these questions were put, and various solutions of the problem were
offered. The true one was not thought of, until accident revealed it.
It was Saturday when the incident occurred. The party, of course,
remained all next day at the place. They heard almost continually the
cry of the bereaved bird, who most likely knew no more than they what
had become of his mate. On Monday our travellers re-embarked and
continued down-stream. About a mile below, as they were paddling along,
their attention was drawn to a singular object floating upon the water.
They brought the canoe alongside it. It was a large fish, a sturgeon,
floating dead, with a bird beside it, also dead! On turning both over,
what was their astonishment to see that the talons of the bird were
firmly fixed in the back of the fish! It was the _female osprey_! This
explained all. She had struck a fish too heavy for her strength, and
being unable to clear her claws again, had been drawn under the water
and had perished along with her victim!