Considered one of his John James Audubon's finest drawings, this dramatically composed image of a Fish Hawk, or Osprey, became Plate 81 of "The Birds of America." Audubon wrote, “When it plunges into the water in pursuit of a fish, it sometimes proceeds deep enough to disappear for an instant. The surge caused by its descent is so great as to make the spot around it present the appearance of a mass of foam. It mounts a few yards into the air, shakes the water from its plumage, squeezes the fish