418 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 



the covert, I have seen one or two, alarmed by the noise 

 of the dogs and beaters, run swiftly to the edge of 

 the water, and slipping noiselessly off the bank, secrete 

 themselves amongst the submerged roots. Those too 

 closely pressed by the dogs will either take a short 

 flight to a fresh patch of reeds and rushes, diving the 

 moment they touch the water, or, mounting up, seek 

 concealment in some accustomed roosting place, amidst 

 the branches or ivy-covered stems of trees ; and I have 

 thus counted as many as seven water-hens, at one 

 time, hiding amongst the foliage of the dark firs. As 

 remarked, also, by Mr. Atkinson, the water-hen when 

 flushed, and seeking shelter in a hedge, drops into " the 

 thickest and bushiest part of it several feet from the 

 ground, thence threading its way to the bank or ditch 

 below, unlike the partridge, which at once seeks shelter 

 at the bottom ; but the following curious incident 

 shows that this peculiar habit is not altogether unat- 

 tended with danger. On one occasion, in a thick 

 fence, at Framingham, near Norwich, Mr. W. Bligh 

 discovered a water-hen suspended head downwards, a 

 stout bramble having caught in the feathers of one 

 side and become so twisted in by the struggles of the 

 bird that escape was impossible ; and it thus hung till 

 it died. This was evidently not long, as the feathers 

 were but little soiled by its mutings, and the body was 

 in good condition. 



In speaking of the various dangers to which the 

 young of this species are exposed, I omitted to mention 

 the heron amongst their natural enemies, but there is 

 no doubt that this voracious bird devours both nestling 

 coots and water-hens when opportunity offers. Mr. 

 Selby, on the authority of Mr. Neill, of Cannonmills, near 

 Edinburgh, states that a winged heron, kept in a garden 

 by the mill-pond, used to swim out to a willow-tree that 

 had fallen over the water, and take young water-hens 



