Its method of taking prey is almost exactly like that which is employed by the kingfisher. When it goes out in search of food, it soars into the air, and floats in circles over the water, watching every inch of it as narrowly as a kestrel watches a stubble-field. No sooner does a fish rise toward the surface to take a fly, or to leap into the air for sport, than the Osprey darts downwards, grasps the fish in its talons, drags the struggling prey from the water, and with a scream of joy and triumph bears it away to shore, where it can be devoured at leisure. The bird never dives, neither does it seize the fish with its beak like the kingfisher. It plunges but slightly into the water, as otherwise it would not be able to use its strong wings and carry off its prey. In order to enable the bird to seize the hard and slippery body of the fish, it is furnished with long, very sharp, and boldly-hooked talons, which force themselves into the sides of the fish, and hold it as with grappling irons. [Illustration: THE OSPREY SEARCHING FOR FISH.] The flight of the Osprey is peculiarly easy and elegant, as might be expected from a bird the length of whose body is only twenty-two inches, and the expanse of wing nearly five feet and a half. It is therefore able to hover over the water for long periods of time, and can balance itself in one spot without seeming to move a wing, having the singular facility of doing so even when a tolerably strong breeze is blowing. It has even been observed to maintain its place unmoved when a sharp squall swept over the spot. Harmless though the Osprey be--except to the fish--it is a most persecuted bird, being everywhere annoyed by rooks and crows, and, in America, robbed by the more powerful white-headed eagle. Such a scene is thus described by Wilson: "Elevated on the high, dead limb of a gigantic tree that commanded a wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, the great white-headed eagle calmly surveys the motions of various smaller birds that pursue their busy avocations below. "The snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the trains of ducks streaming over the surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading, and all the winged multitude that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. "High over all these, hovers one whose action instantly arrests the eagle's attention. By his wide curvature of wing and sudden suspension in the air he knows him to be the Osprey, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. The eyes of the eagle kindle at the sight, and balancing himself with half-opened wings on the branch, he watches the result.