466 



RALLID^. 



occasionally visit. The name is objectionable on other 

 accounts ; the male bird is called a Moor-hen as well as 

 the female, while the terms Moor-fowl and Moor-cock 

 have long been applied to the Ptarmigan. For these 

 reasons, I suppose, many recent ornithologists Anglicize 

 the systematic name, and call it the Gallinule, which 

 means "little fowl," and is suggestive of the half- 

 domestic habits of the bird, under certain circumstances. 



■^^ 



THE MOOR-HEN. 



The^Gallinule being a common bird of some size, con- 

 spicuous colours, and active habits, is an interesting ap- 

 pendage of our rivers and pieces of artificial water. Its 

 note, something between a bark and a croak, is as well 

 known in watered districts as the note of the Cuckoo, 

 and is often uttered when the bird has no intention of 

 being seen. Any one who may happen to be walking on 

 the bank of a reedy pond may perhaps hear its strange 



