Osprey or Fibh-hawk {Pamliuii Ilalautm).
piscivorous, and is found only in the vicinity of lakes, rivers, or such pools as abound with fish. It is a pow- erful bird, often weighing five pounds; the limbs are very muscular in proportion to its general dimensions; its feet are admirably adapted for retaining firm hold of its slipper}' prey." Mr. Montagu (Ornithological Dic- tionary, 1802, s. V. Ospray) remarks, " Its principal food is fish, which it often catches with great dexterity, by pouncing upon them with vast rapidity, and carrying them off in its talons.'' See also Grandsagne's edition of Pliny, with Notes and Excursus by Cuvier (Parisiis, 1828), p. 215. This fine and powerful bird of prey has a wide geographical distribution. It is spread over the whole of Europe and Asia from Norway to Kamtchatka, from Ireland and Portugal to India and Japan. On all the coasts of the Mediterranean it is common, and in Africa it reaches from Egypt to the Cape. In America Dr. Richardson found it in the arctic regions ; Wilson and Audubon describe it as abundant throughout the United States; and it is seen fishing in tlie West Indies. Its prey is fish, and to obtain this it selects its eyry on some bold headland jutting out into the sea, or a tall cliff overlooking the broad reach of a river, or a blasted pine that springs out of the rifted rock where a cataract plunges down the steep. The manners of this bold sea- king have been eloquently described by Wilson :
"In leaving the nest, he usually flies direct till he comes to the sen, then sails around in easy curving lines, turning sometimes in the air as on a pivot, apparently without the least exertion, rarely moving the wings, his legs ex- tended in a straight line behind, and his remarkable length and curvature of wing distinguishing him from all other hawks. The height at which he thus elegantly glides is various, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet, sometimes much higher, all the while calmly reconnoitring the face of the deep be- low. Suddenly he is seen to check his course, as if sirnck by a particular object, which he seems to survey for a few momeuts with such steadiness that he a]ipenrs fixed in the air, flapping his wings. This object, however, he abandons, or rather the fish he had in his eye lias disap- peared, and he is again seen sailing around as before. Now his attention is again arrested, and he descends with great rapidity ; hut ere he reaches the surface shoots off on another course, as if ashamed that a secmid victim had esciiped him. He now sails at a short height above the surface, and by a zigzag descent, and without seem- ing to dip his feetin the water, seizes a fish, which, after carrying a short distance, he probably drops, or yields up to the bald-eagle, and again ascends by easy spiral circles to the higher regions of the air, where he glides about in all the ease and majesty of his species. At once, from this sublime aerial height, "he descends like a ijerjjcndicnlar torrent, plunging into the sea with a loud rushing scinnd, and with the certainty of a rifle. In a few moments he emerges, bearing in his claws his struggling prey, which he ahvavs carries head foremost, and having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes himself as a water spaniel would do, and directs his heavy and laborious course directly for the land. . . . The hawk, however, in his fishing pursuits, sometimes mistakes his mark, or over- rates his strength by striking flsh too large and powerful
OSSA
471
OSSIFRAGE
for him to manage, by whom he is suddenly dragijed under ; and though he sometimes succeeds in exti-icainig himself, after being taken down three or four times, yet oftener both parties perish. The bodies of sturgeon, and of several other large tish, with a fish-hawk fast grappled in tliem, have at diflferent times been found dead on the shore, cast up by the waves" {Ainer. Ornith. s. v. Fish- hawk).
With this may be compared the description of another modem naturalist, Dr. Richardson : " When looking out for its prey it sails with great ease and elegance, in un- dulating lines at a considerable altitude above the water, from whence it precipitates itself upon its t^uarry, and bears it off in its claws." The osprey belongs to the family Falconidw, order Raptores. It has a ^vide geographical range, and is occasionally seen in Egypt ; but as it is rather a northern bird, the Hebrew word may refer, as Mr. Tristram suggests to us, either to the Aquila ncBvia or Aquila ncevioides, or more probablj' still to the very abundant Circaetus gallicus which feeds upon reptilia (^Nut. Hist, of Bible, p. 185).
Short-tailed Eagle (Circaetw) Gallicus).
Ossa, a Homeric female deity, the messenger of Zftis. She was worshipped at Athens, and seems to have corresponded to the Latin goddess Funia.
Ossat, Arnaud d', a French cardinal and diploma- tist, was born of very humble origin Aug. 23, 1536, at Larroque. He lost both his parents when but nine years of age, and entered the service of Thomas de Marca, who gave him as a servant to his nephew and ■ward, John de IMarca, lord of Castelnau-Magnoac. Be- ing present while his master was taking his lessons, D'Ossat soon learned enough of Latin to teach it to the less capable nobleman. Receiving the tonsure Dec. 2G, 1556, he entered the Church, and afterwards accompa- nied his former master and two other young gentlemen to Paris as their tutor. These returned to Gascony in 1562, and D'Ossat remained in Paris, where he contin- ued his studies under Ramus, whose intimate friend he soon became. He was for a wliile professor of rhetoric and philosophy at the Universitj' of Paris, but soon after went to Bourges to stud\' law under Cujas, and became counsellor to the Parliament. In 1574 he went to Rome as secretary to the French ambassador, Paul de Foix, and now remained most of the time in that city, first in a subordinate position, then as ambassador of Henry III and Henry IV. In that capacity he ren- dered his employers great service. It was D'Ossat who reconciled the Church of Rome and Henry IV. He was made cardinal in 1599, and died at Rome M^rch 13, 1604. Cardinal D'Ossat is a remarkable instance of ele- vation to Church dignity by the force of personal merit. He AVTOte, Expositio A rnaldi Ossati in dixpiutationem Jacobi Carpenfarii cfe methodo (Paris, 1654, 8vo), in de- fence of Ramus ; and a collection of Lettres addressed to the minister of state, Villeroi, which are models of