WATERMEN. 341 



been selected, the nest being made as much as twenty 

 feet from the ground. It is a bulky structure of rotten 

 aquatic vegetation, flags, reeds, rushes, weeds, sedges 

 loosely interwoven, but well massed together, the cavity 

 containing the eggs being shallow, and lined with finer 

 and drier material. The nest is often increased during 

 the progress of incubation, either to repair the damages 

 caused by the incessant wash of the waves, or to prepare 

 for sudden floods. The bird does not sit very closely, 

 and covers her eggs before leaving them, slipping off 

 into the water at the first alarm. 



Range of egg colouratiOxN and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Waterhen are from six to ten in 

 number, sometimes as many as twelve. They vary 

 from buffish-white to pale reddish-buff in ground colour, 

 spotted and speckled with reddish-brown, and with 

 underlying markings of gray. On some varieties the 

 markings are of the character of blotches rather than 

 spots, occasionally of considerable size ; on others the 

 markings are i&w and small. They are pretty evenly 

 distributed over the surface. Average measurement, 

 17 inch in length, by V2 inch in breadth. Incubation] 

 performed by both sexes, lasts from twenty to twenty- 

 four days. 



Diagnostic characters: The size and general 

 colouration of the eggs of the Waterhen prevent them 

 from being confused with those of any other species 

 breeding within our area. 



