196 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
another, near Agden, which ran into some brambles 
and reeds and there remained motionless, its red bill 
and barred plumage harmonising wonderfully with its 
surroundings. 
MOORHEN. 
GALLINULA CHLOROPUS (Linnzus). 
Waterhen, Coot. 
The marl-pits of Wirral and the Plain are the chief 
resorts of this abundant resident, and there are very 
few of these ponds in which one or more pairs do not 
nest. The reed-beds and the undergrowth on the 
margins of the meres are also favourite nesting-places, 
and many pairs rear their young on rivers and streams, 
even in the Hill Country. In winter, when the ponds 
are frozen, the Moorhen resorts to running water, and 
at that season hunger often drives the bird to seek its 
food in the farmyard amongst the fowls. 
The nest of the Moorhen is usually placed on the 
ground, among sedges or in a low bush, but occasionally 
it is built in a tree. We have seen one in a fir eleven 
feet above the ground, and Mr. J. J. Cash tells us that 
he once found one built upon the disused nest of a 
Ring Dove. At Astle, in 1874, a Moorhen built in 
a spruce, eighteen feet above the ground, and after 
laying four eggs was evicted by a Pheasant, which 
added eight eggs of her own. These were removed, 
but the Pheasant continued to incubate the Moorhen’s 
eggs} 
If suddenly surprised on a large sheet of water, the 
Moorhen usually takes wing, flymg along the surface 
1 Field, vol. xxxvii. p. 443, 1871. 
