112 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



water level that history has ever recorded ! Therefore, 

 I would prefer to leave the theory of the bird transferring 

 its eggs from one nest to another to more experienced 

 observers. 



I have, however, specially noticed that whereas in 

 ponds which never vary in level it is customary for the 

 waterhens to build their nests almost level with the 

 surface, so that the young birds can step straight out 

 into the water ; this certainly is not the rule when the nest 

 is built by a loch or stream which is subject to sudden 

 spate. Most of our Scottish lochs, for example, may 

 rise a foot or more at anytime, and by far the majority of 

 the moorhens breeding by them locate their nests several 

 feet above the normal water line. This is more noticeable 

 some seasons than others, and is particularly the case 

 succeeding a winter of constant spates. I believe, also, 

 that the elderly birds are wiser than the newly married 

 couples. 



The tails of birds and animals play a very important 

 part in their daily lives, and though some may appear 

 to be more or less useless appendages, existing only for 

 ornamental purposes, this is seldom or never the case. 

 I failed to understand the value of the exaggerated tail 

 of the peacock till one day I saw one of these birds standing 

 against tropical vegetation with its tail spread, when the 

 huge screen rendered the bird almost unrecognizable 

 amidst its richly coloured surroundings, no matter in 

 which direction one looked upon it. Facing the bird it 

 bore the resemblance of a bush, while from behind the 

 stick-like feather stems harmonized exactly with the dead 

 canes and other stalk-like vegetation near to the ground, 

 and one need not go much further than Hyde Park in 

 the early summer in order to realize that even in this 

 dingily-clothed land the vivid colouring of the peacock 

 may be highly protective. The long tail of the pheasant 



