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 
eround, 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 
