338 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



the rushes that stud the shallow pool, preening their 

 plumage, while others are seen paddling quietly about, 

 occasionally diving in search of food, or chasing each 

 other through the water for sport, their peculiar notes 

 fully harmonising with the whole scene. The note of 

 the Moorhen is indeed a peculiar one. I can only 

 compare it to the noise made by drawing your thumb 

 smartly across one of the bass strings of a fiddle. At 

 the least alarm they either dive into the water, to reap- 

 pear amongst the reeds, or run swiftly off, to seek 

 safety and seclusion in the herbage on the bank. 



The Moorhen remains with us throughout the year, 

 although I am led to believe their numbers are increased 

 in the autumn and winter months by arrivals from 

 northern latitudes. Morning or evening, or after a shower 

 of rain, are the times the Moorhens are most frequently 

 seen searching the grass land for the worms, slugs, snails, 

 and insects which constitute their chief food ; although 

 grass and other vegetable substances, such as the tender 

 shoots and seeds of water plants, are frequently eaten. 

 There is somethin:^ peculiarly graceful about the actions 

 of the Moorhen when walking about the land, and their in- 

 cessant jerking of the tail also adds to the gracefulness of 

 their movements. But, as we have already seen, the Moor- 

 hen does not confine himself to the land alone ; he is 

 equally at home on the water, where he spends much of 

 his time. Now you see him dive for the tender shoots 

 of the v/ater plants or an aquatic insect ; then up again, 

 to swim hither and thither, or float motionless, which he 

 often does for a long time. Should danger threaten him 

 when on the water, you find he usually dives instantly, 

 and pursues his way under water, and again ascends 

 amongst the herbage growing in the pool, where he 

 lurks until all is quiet again. 



