The Moor-hen 



into the heart of London, and may be watched as it comes 

 out to pick up the crumbs thrown by the passer-by, and 

 takes them back to her young concealed in the rushes. 

 Their food consists of insects, worms, slugs, aquatic vegeta- 

 tion, and a certain amount of grain. In some districts 

 considerable damage is done in early spring to the watercress 

 beds, the fresh tender shoots being nipped off as soon as 

 they start to grow. 



In April several nests are partially begun; these are 

 generally situated in clumps of sedge or rushes, but are 

 sometimes built under bushes, or even trees, at some height 

 above the ground. In one of these partially-built structures 

 the eggs will be laid, and as soon as the site has been 

 definitely chosen a considerable amount of material is added, 

 and the higher leaves of the sedge are often bent over so as 

 to conceal it from above. The young when first hatched are 

 black, with the base of the beak bright red like that of their 

 parents, but after about a fortnight this colour is lost, the 

 beak and frontal plate becoming brownish green. The 

 first few weeks are spent entirely on the water or in the 

 thick cover fringing the banks of a pond or stream, and at 

 such times the half-completed nests are utilised as nurseries 

 on which to brood the young. Both parents feed and tend 

 the young, and on the approach of danger safety is sought 

 by diving. When swimming the Moor - hen proceeds 

 slowly, with a curious bobbing motion of the head and neck, 

 and on land, when undisturbed, it walks slowly, raising its 

 tail at every step and thus displaying the white under tail 

 coverts ; if alarmed, however, it lowers its head and runs 

 with considerable rapidity and shows no white whatever. 



289 37 



