Gould regretted that the Osprey had suffered from such unrelenting persecution by gamekeepers, that it was almost exterminated in Britain. He still hoped that the Osprey, then still found in Scotland, would always 'remain associated with the fine lochs and deserted castles of that country'.

The Osprey hunts over the water and dives with outstretched talons, rising with the fish firmly clutched in its grasp. In the watercolour the Osprey's catch, a fine Scottish Trout, is portrayed by Wolf with the same care as its captor.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeding distribution is cosmopolitan, except for South America. Winters south from the British Isles, continental Europe, south Asia, Philippines, and southern United States, south to southern Africa, Australia, Hawaiian Islands and southern South America. Bred commonly in Scotland until well into nineteenth century but reduced by persecution until last nested in 1916. Recolonised in 1955 (perhaps 1954), nesting successfully since 1959, and with strict protection population has expanded and risen to 72 pairs at nests in 1991