THE MOOR-HEN 931 
thicket of weeds. A nest and eggs of this bird are thus described 
in the Annals of Natural History: ‘The bird had selected for 
her nest a thick tuft of long grass, hollow at the bottom, on the 
side of the reed pond; the nest, about an inch and a half thick, 
was composed of withered leaves and rushes; it was so covered 
by the top of the grass, that neither bird, nest, nor eggs could be 
seen; the entrance to the nest was through an aperture of the 
grass, directly into the reeds, opposite to where any one would 
stand to see the nest.’ The number of eggs is about ten or eleven. 
Its note during breeding is a loud, groaning cro-o-o-an. 
! 
THE MOOR-HEN 
GALL{NULA CHLOROPUS 
Upper plumage deep olive-brown ; under tail-coverts and edge of the wing 
white, the former with a few black feathers ; under plumage slate colour, 
the flanks streaked with white; base of the bill and a space on the 
forehead bright orange, point of the bill yellow; irides red; feet olive- 
brown; ared ring round the tibia. In females the colours are brighter 
than in the males. Young birds have the front of the neck whitish, 
the belly grey, the base of the beak and legs olive-brown. Length 
thirteen inches. Eggs buff, spotted and speckled with orange-brown. 
Or the two common names of this bird, ‘ Moor-hen’ and ‘ Water- 
hen’, the former is that which is more generally in use, though 
the latter is the more appropriate. The bird frequents moors, 
it must be admitted, but only such as are watery; while there is 
scarcely a river, lake, canal, brook, or even pond, of moderate 
dimensions, which Moor-hens do not either inhabit all the year 
round or 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 Gallinule being a common bird of some size, conspicuous 
colours, and active habits, is an interesting appendage 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 cry and see 
the bird itself at some little distance, swimming about with a 
restless jerky motion, often dipping its head, and with every dip 
turning slightly to the right or the left. If he wishes for a nearer 
view, let him advance quietly, concealing himself as much as he 
can; for if he proceeds carelessly, and takes off his eyes for any 
