Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/249

FISH HAWK very small and always in advance of the ven- trals; above the chalk, the ventrals begin to approach nearer the head ; they were not so fully developed as our fishes, but seem to have been, like the sturgeon, arrested in their de- velopment. During this epoch the sea cover- ed the greater part of the surface of the globe, and all animals whose remains have been pre- served were without exception aquatic, breath- ing by gills ; the climate must have been uni- form and warm ; the dry land had hardly ap- peared above the waters, and all creation was as silent as in mid ocean. For the systematic classification of fishes, and the history of the science, see ICHTHYOLOGY. FISH HAWK, a bird of prey, of the family fal- conida, subfamily aquilince, and genus pandion (Savigny). This genus, which belongs to the same subfamily with the eagles, is character- ized by a short bill, curved from the base to the acute hooked tip, compressed laterally with slightly festooned margins; wings extending FISHK1LL 241 American Fish Hawk, or Osprey (Pandion Carolinensis). to tip of tail, the second and third quills equal and longest; tail moderate and rather even; general form heavier and less adapted for rapid and vigorous flight than that of the eagles; tarsi short and strong, covered with small circu- lar scales ; toes very rough beneath, long, and united at the base; claws long, curved, and sharp. Gray describes only three species : P. Carolinensis (Gmel.) in America, P. Jialiaetus (Linn.) in the old world, and P. leucocephalus (t rould) in Australia. These species are nearly allied to each other, and inhabit the temperate regions, in the vicinity of lakes, rivers, and shallow arms of the sea ; they have been seen 1 hundred miles from land, probably driven off the coast by severe storms. The female American fish hawk, or osprey, is 25 in. long, with an extent of wings of about 5 ft. ; the male is somewhat smaller. In the adult the head and under parts are white ; a stripe through the eye, the top of the head and up- per parts, wings, and tail, deep umber brown, the latter having about eight bands of black- ish brown ; numerous spots of pale yellowish brown on the breast; bill and claws bluish black; tarsi and toes greenish yellow; the tibial feathers short, and the tarsus feathered one third the way down in front ; the young have the upper parts edged with white. This well known species inhabits the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; its powerful and protracted flight, and the dexterity which it displays in catching fish, render it conspicuous among our birds of prey. It is one of the most sociable of the hawks, migrating in consider- able numbers along the coast in spring and autumn ; it is mild, even timorous in its dis- position, rarely quarrelling with its mates, and even nesting on the same tree with birds which other members of its family would chase or destroy ; the readiness with which it yields its prey to the eagle has been alluded to under that head. It never pursues its prey in the air; flying at a moderate height above the water, when it sees a fish within its reach it closes its wings, and plunges headlong, some- times entirely disappearing below the surface ; if successful, it retires to its nest or to a tree to eat it at leisure ; it is said sometimes to strike a fish too heavy for its strength to raise, and, unable to free itself, to be drawn under water and drowned. Though a heavy flier compared to the eagle, its flight is high and its motions graceful ; in the rare instances in which it alights on the ground, it walks in a very awk- ward manner. The fish hawk appears in the middle states from the south about the begin- ning of April, and is welcomed by the fishermen as the forerunner of various kinds of fish ; it goes southward again as winter approaches. The males arrive eight or ten days before the females ; during the love season both sexes as- sist in making new nests and in repairing old ones, and in incubation ; the nest is placed in the fork of a high tree near the water, and is composed of sticks, grass, and seaweeds, firmly united, three or four feet wide and as many deep. As evidence of its gentle disposition, Audubon says that he has seen the fish crow and purple grakle raising their families in nests built among the outer sticks of the fish hawk's nest. The eggs are three or four in number, broadly oval, yellowish white, with numerous large irregular spots of reddish brown ; the young are carefully fed and protected, and often remain in the nest until they are as large as the parents ; only one brood is raised in a season. When wounded, they defend them- selves with bill and claws; they are capable of flying off with a fish weighing 5 Ibs. The fish hawk of Europe resembles very much the American bird. FISHKILL, a town and village of Dutchess co., New York, on the Hudson river and the Hudson River railroad, opposite Newburgh, 55 m. N. of New York ; pop. of the town in 1870, 11,752; of the village, 737. The village is