THE. CO.]B.R Volume XlX July-August, 1917 Number THE OSPREYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE By M.P. SKINNER WITH ONE PHOTO HE OLD-TIME beaver trappers, gold miners, and explorers in the West were too oblivious of bird-life to.leave us any records. But since the ear- liest of the scientific parties to visit the Yellowstone record the abund- ance of ospreys*, we can assume that this region has always been a favorite habitat for them. At the present time these birds attract a great deal of atten- tion from tourists, who know them as "eagles". It is not strange that they should, for the birds are:living in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone where ?he nests are plain to be seen and the ways of the birds are open to all who will watch them. I know of no easier bird-study than this. One has but to find a shady spot with a stone or a log for a seat; the birds are immediately' below one; and there are no discomforts of wet feet, blazing heat, or insect pests. If one wishes, a book can be taken along; and always there is the wonderful scen- ery of the Yellowstone Canyon, should both bird-study and book lose their in- terest. It comes as near being "ornithology de luxe" as can be. Most of Yellowstone Park is an elevated lava plateau from which the streams descend by waterfalls. Hence under natural conditions there were formerly no fish above these falls with the exception of Yellowstone River and Yellowstone Lake. It was along this river and its tributaries, the lake and the lower parts of other streams, that the ospreys were abundant. In 1889 the planting of trout in the formerly barren streams was begun. This stocking was successful; all the principal streams now have fish, and th? ospreys are just beginning to establish their homes near them. The process is a slow one, for the conservatism the osprey shows in nesting year after year on the same site would prevent his rushing into new hunting grounds. In the two-mile sec-
- Tile American Osprey (Pandion hal/aetus carol/nensis).
