CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. . 63 



retreat amongst reeds, rushes, and other coarse 

 herbage. 



There are few birds which give so much trouble 

 to spaniels, for they run forward, double back, and 

 dive, remaining submerged under the water for a 

 considerable time by the knack they possess, as Mr. 

 Hudson says, of " grasping the weeds at the bottom 

 with their claws, and keeping their nostrils above 

 the surface." 



In open weather Moorhens leave the shelter of 

 the ditches and ponds, and go out into the fields to 

 feed ; in frosty weather they go to running streams 

 and take shelter in plantations, hedgerows, and 

 thick bushes. 



" The nest is generally built in wet places, among 

 reeds, sedge, and other aquatic plants, or roots of 

 alders, but it is often placed on low-lying trees over 

 the water. The materials employed are dry reeds, 

 flags, and sedge, matted together, and the birds 

 have been known to raise the structure when an 

 inundation was threatened. Incubation, which lasts 

 three weeks, sometimes begins in March, and two, 

 if not three, broods are produced in the season ; the 

 young from the first nest assisting their parents in 

 building another, and even in taking care of the 

 second brood" (Howard Saunders). 



This species has a fairly wide distribution abroad. 



The specimens in the case, which represent a 

 family, were obtained in Argyleshire, where a 

 keeper of a large estate in that county gave me 

 much valuable assistance. 



