138 BY THE WATERSIDE ONCE MORE 
approach, a moorhen swam out into the fore- 
ground. (Moorhens in feeding swimming 
about look very pretty. They may often be 
observed in our parks and waters, where they 
become quite tame. The tail is kept cocked 
up, its pure white clean feathers contrasting 
strongly with the general black colour of the 
rest of the plumage. The bird proceeds on 
the water in little quick jerks, the head and 
tail moving in unison backwards and _for- 
wards with each paddle of the foot, now the 
right and then the left being used in turn.) 
This bird, a hen, kept ‘ cheerie-’ ing all the 
time (a note, I thought, much resembling 
the call of the cock partridge though weaker) 
alternating this with an occasional sharp 
‘chit chit.’ These continued sounds were 
meant to console a recently-hatched young 
one which I afterwards found in a nest close 
by, finding the exact spot (which was in the 
stump of a willow close to the water) by its 
weak, plaintive and constantly repeated 
‘chewie’ to its mother as it lay amongst six 
unhatched eggs in the nest. 
