The Waterhen. 85 



could be conceived than the beautiful down inter- 

 woven with dry reeds of which the nest was 

 composed, with here and there a bright green blade 

 of grass shooting through it. 



As we turned round to continue our way, a dark 

 coloured object floating on the stream caught our 

 eye, and seeing that it was a bird we dropped on 

 our knees, and watched it under cover of some tall 

 flags. As the bird began to swim about, we saw that 

 it was a Waterhen, or Moorhen as it is often called. 

 It swam with a jerky motion, going from side to 

 side in a restless manner, and moving its head 

 backwards and forwards as it proceeded, every now 

 and then dipping its head into the water in pursuit 

 of some small fish or insect. At length it dived 

 down and disappeared from view, and, as we watched, 

 it suddenly emerged quite close to the bank, up 

 which it climbed. A bird so clever in the water 

 is usually clumsy on land, but not so the Waterhen. 

 It walked about neatly and quickly, nodding its 

 head and bobbing its tail all the while, each time 

 displaying its white under-feathers. 



Evidently the food it had obtained in the water 

 had not satisfied its appetite, for a slug or worm was 

 every now and then found and captured; then a 

 piece of grass or some grain was plucked up and 

 eaten. We had been watching its graceful move- 



