National Museum, 7; Philadelphia Academy, 3; New York Museum, 1
(Brazil); Boston Society, 6; Museum Cambridge, 9; Cab. G. N. Lawrence,
1; Coll. R. Ridgway, 1. Total, 28.
_Measurements._
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
|Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. |Middle Toe.|Specimens.|
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
| ♂ |19.00–20.50|10.00–10.50|1.35–0.00|2.25–2.40| 1.80–1.85| 5 |
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
| ♀ |18.75–19.00| 8.80–9.50|1.25–1.35|2.00–2.25| 1.70–1.80| 4 |
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
Second and third quills longest; first shorter or longer than fifth.
HABITS. The Fish Hawk of North America, whether we regard it as a
race or a distinct species from that of the Old World fauna, is found
throughout the continent, from the fur regions around Hudson’s Bay
to Central America. According to Mr. Hill, it is seen occasionally
in Jamaica, and, as I learn by letter from Dr. Gundlach, is also
occasionally met with in the island of Cuba; but it is not known to
breed in either place. Dr. Woodhouse, in his report of the expedition
to the Zuñi River, speaks of this Hawk as common along the coasts of
Texas and California. Dr. Heermann mentions it as common on the borders
of all the large rivers of California in summer; and Dr. Gambel also
refers to it as abundant along the coast of that State, and on its rocky
islands, in which latter localities it breeds. I am not aware that it
has ever been found farther south than Texas, on the eastern coast. On
the Pacific coast it appears to have a more extended distribution both
north and south, but nowhere to be so abundant as on certain parts of
the Atlantic coast.
[Illustration: _Pandion haliætus_ (European specimen).]
Mr. Bischoff obtained this species about Sitka, where he found it
breeding, and took its eggs; and Mr. Dall procured several specimens
near Nulato in May, 1867, and in 1868. They were not uncommon,
frequenting the small streams, and were summer visitors, returning to
the same nest each season. Colonel Grayson found it breeding as far
south as the islands of the Tres Marias, in latitude 31° 30′ north.
The nest was on the top of a giant cactus. Mr. Xantus describes it as
breeding on the ground at Cape St. Lucas.
In the interior it was met with by Richardson, but its migrations do
not appear to reach the extreme northern limits of the continent. That
observing naturalist saw nothing of this bird when he was coasting
along the shores of the Arctic Sea, nor did Mr. Hearne find it on the
barren grounds north of Fort Churchill. Its eggs were collected on the
Mackenzie River by Mr. Ross, and on the Yukon by Messrs. Lockhart,
Sibbiston, McDougal, and Jones. At Fort Yukon, Mr. Lockhart found it
nesting on a high tree (S. I. 15,676).
On the Atlantic coast it is found from Labrador to Florida, with the
exception of a portion of Massachusetts around Boston, where it does not
breed, and where it is very rarely met with. It is most abundant from
Long Island to the Chesapeake, and throughout this long extent of coast
is very numerous, often breeding in large communities, to the number of
several hundred pairs. Away from the coast it is much less frequent, but
is occasionally met with on the banks of the larger rivers and lakes,
and in such instances usually in solitary pairs. Dr. Hayden found it
nesting in the Wind River Mountains on the top of a large cottonwood
tree.
Mr. Allen reports this species as abundant everywhere in Florida, and
as especially so around the lakes of the Upper St. Johns, where it
commences nesting in January. At Lake Monroe he counted six nests from a
single point of view. It is said by fishermen to occur on the coast of
Labrador, but it is not cited as found there by Mr. Audubon, nor is it
so given by Dr. Coues. It is, however, very common on the coast of Nova
Scotia, breeding in the vicinity of most of the harbors. It is given by
Mr. Boardman as common near Calais, where it arrives about the 10th of
April, and remains until the middle of September. It is found along the
whole coast more or less abundantly, especially near the heads of the
numerous estuaries.
In Central America it is cited by Salvin as occurring abundantly on both
the coast regions, and is particularly common about Belize, where it is
believed to breed. It is said by Mr. Newton to be found on the island of
St. Croix at all times except during the breeding-season. It was also
occasionally seen at Trinidad by Mr. E. C. Taylor.
The Fish Hawk appears to subsist wholly on the fish which it takes
by its own active exertions, plunging for them in the open deep, or
catching them in the shallows of rivers where the depth does not permit
a plunge. Its abundance is measured somewhat by its supply of food; and
in some parts of the country it is hardly found, in others it appears in
solitary pairs, and again in a few districts it is quite gregarious.
The American Fish Hawk is migratory in its habits, leaving our coasts
early in the fall of the year, and returning soon after the close of the
winter. Sir John Richardson states that the time of its arrival in the
fur regions is as early as April, and on the coast it has been noticed
in the middle of March. It breeds on the coast of Nova Scotia late in
June, on that of Maine earlier in the same month, in New Jersey and
Maryland in May, and still earlier in California.
It is said to arrive on the New Jersey coast with great regularity
about the 21st of March, and to be rarely seen there after the 22d
of September. It not unfrequently finds, on its first arrival, the
ponds, bays, and estuaries ice-bound, and experiences some difficulty
in procuring food. Yet I can find no instance on record where our Fish
Hawk has been known to molest any other bird or land-animal, to feed on
them, though their swiftness of flight, and their strength of wing and
claws, would seem to render such attacks quite easy. On their arrival
the Fish Hawks are said to combine, and to wage a determined war upon
the White-headed Eagles, often succeeding by their numbers and courage
in driving them temporarily from their haunts. But they never attack
them singly.
The Fish Hawk nests almost invariably on the tops of trees, and this
habit has been noticed in all parts of the country. It is not without
exceptions, but these are quite rare. William H. Edwards, Esq., found
one of their nests constructed near West Point, New York, on a high
cliff overhanging the Hudson River. The trees on which their nests are
built are not unfrequently killed by their excrement or the saline
character of their food and the materials of their nest. The bird is
bold and confiding, often constructing its nest near a frequented path,
or even upon a highway. Near the eastern extremity of the Wiscasset
(Me.) bridge, and directly upon the stage-road, a nest of this Hawk was
occupied several years. It was upon the top of a low pine-tree, was
readily accessible, the tree being easily climbed, and was so near the
road that, in passing, the young birds could frequently be heard in
their nest, uttering their usual cries for food.
The nests are usually composed externally of large sticks, often
piled to the height of five feet, with a diameter of three. In a nest
described by Wilson, he found, intermixed with a mass of sticks,
corn-stalks, sea-weed, wet turf, mullein-stalks, etc., the whole lined
with dry sea-grass (_Zostera marina_), and large enough to fill a cart
and be no inconsiderable load for a horse.
When the nest of this Hawk is visited, especially if it contain young,
the male bird will frequently make violent, and sometimes dangerous,
attacks upon the intruder. In one instance, in Maine, the talons of
one of these Hawks penetrated through a thick cloth cap, and laid bare
the scalp of a lad who had climbed to its nest, and very nearly hurled
him to the ground. A correspondent quoted by Wilson narrates a nearly
similar instance of courageous and desperate defence of the young. They
are very devoted in their attentions to their mates, and supply them
with food while on the nest. Wilson relates a touching instance of this
devotion, where a female that had lost one leg, and was unable to fish
for herself, was abundantly supplied by her mate.
In some localities the Fish Hawk nests in large communities, as many as
three hundred pairs having been observed nesting on one small island.
When a new nest is to be constructed, the whole community has been known
to take part in its completion. They are remarkably tolerant towards
smaller birds, and permit the Purple Grakle (_Quiscalus purpureus_) to
construct its nests in the interstices of their own. Wilson observed no
less than four of these nests thus clustered in a single Fish Hawk’s
nest, with a fifth on an adjoining branch.
The eggs of the Fish-Hawk are usually three in number, often only two,
and more rarely four. They are subject to great variations as to their
ground-color, the number, shade, and distribution of the blotches of
secondary coloring with which they are marked, and also as to their size
and shape. Their ground-color is most frequently a creamy-white, with a
very perceptible tinge of red. This varies, however, from an almost pure
shade of cream, without any admixture, to so deep a shade of red that
white ceases to be noticeable. Their markings are combinations of an
almost endless variation of shades of umber-brown, a light claret-brown,
an intermingling of both these shades, with occasional intermixtures of
purplish-brown. They vary in length from 2.56 to 2.24 inches, and in
breadth from 1.88 to 1.69 inches. It would be impossible to describe
with any degree of preciseness the innumerable variations in size,
shape, ground-color, or shades of markings, these eggs present. They
all have a certain nameless phase of resemblance, and may be readily
distinguished from any other eggs except those of their kindred. There
are, however, certain shades of wine-colored markings in the eggs of the
Fish Hawk of Europe, and also in that of Australia, that I have never
noticed in any eggs of the American bird; but that this peculiarity is
universal I am not able to say. The smallest egg of the _carolinensis_
measures 2.31 by 1.62 inches; the largest, 2.56 by 1.88.
The European egg is smaller than the American, is often, but not always,
more spherical, and is less pointed at the smaller end. Among its
varieties is one which is quite common, and is very different from any I
have ever observed among at least five hundred specimens of the American
which I have examined.
An Osprey’s egg in my collection, taken near Aarhuus, in Denmark, by
Rev. H. B. Tristram, of Castle Eden, England, measures only 2.12 inches
in length,—shorter by a fourth of an inch than the smallest American,—in
breadth 1.62 inches; its ground-color is a rich cream, with a slight
tinge of claret, and it is marked over its whole surface with large
blotches of a beautifully deep shade of chocolate.
In their habits the European and the American birds seem to present
other decided differences. The American is a very social bird, often
living in large communities during the breeding-season. The European is
found almost invariably in solitary pairs, and frequents fresh water
almost exclusively. The American, though found also on large rivers and
lakes, is much the most abundant on the sea-shore. The European bird
rarely builds on trees, the American almost always. The latter rarely
resorts to rocky cliffs to breed, the European almost uniformly do so.
There is no instance on record of the American species attacking smaller
birds or inferior land animals with intent to feed on them. The European
species is said to prey on Ducks and other wild-fowl.