MOORHENS. 



383 



tinually striking the water with their tails. When approached 

 and alarmed, they have recourse to diving, using their wings to 

 assist their progress under water, or they take wing, skimming 

 along the surface to the first cover that may be available, where 

 they remain concealed. On the land these birds walk about with 

 facility, flirting up their tails at intervals, and are enabled, by the 

 compressed shape of their bodies, to run swiftly through covert 

 and entangled herbage, and even to pass through very narrow- 

 openings. From the length of their toes they can walk over 



Fig. 191.— The Common .M 



chloro' hs). 



considerable spaces of still water, supported on the floating 

 foliage of aquatic plants. Their food consists of slugs, worms, 

 and insects, together with various kinds of grain and vegetable 

 substances. Their nest is usually formed in a retired spot, among 

 the reeds by the side of the water : it is a thick mass of interlaced 

 decayed weeds, rushes, and flags. These birds frequent the 

 borders of rivers, lakes and brooks, especially where the current 

 is slow and deep, and the stream bordered with reeds and sedges, 

 amongst which they retire during the day. 



The typical species is — 



The Common Moorhen {Galllnula cJdoropus). The situations affected 



