598 THE RAILS 



Of the notes of the young waterhen there is the following account 

 by Professor Lloyd Morgan : " Moorhen chicks, as above noted, 

 cheep in the egg before they are hatched. On the first day two notes 

 were marked a calling-note lower in pitch than that of the chick (of 

 the domestic hen EDIT.), and rather harsh and raucous ; and a ' tweet 

 tweet ' of pleasure, something like the contented note of a canary bird. 

 At the end of the week there seemed to be five distinguishable notes 

 or types of note. First, a harsh ' crek crek,' when asking for food, 

 when excited in any way, or angry; this was always uttered in 

 crouching attitude, with head thrown back and the wings held out 

 and forward, waving about in the curious and exceedingly charac- 

 teristic manner before noted ; l secondly, a querulous call, expressive 

 of discomfort ; thirdly, a sharper, quicker sound of pain when, for 

 example, a moorhen's wing was seized by one of his neighbours ; 

 fourthly, a gentle, persistent sound of contentment ; and lastly, the 

 canary-like ' tweet tweet ' of perfect contentment." 2 



This admirable description is not only valuable as an account of 

 the notes of the young waterhen, but still more so as a model of close 

 and accurate observation. It will come, indeed, as a surprise to 

 many that a young bird can have so varied a vocabulary. Many such 

 surprises are still in store for the ornithologist, more especially for 

 those who are still content to cherish the belief that there is little 

 to add to what has already been recorded in the pages of White, 

 Naumann, Yarrell, and Macgillivray a view that would astonish no 

 one more than these authorities, were they alive. 



1 The reference is to p. 37, Habit and Instinct : When fed in captivity " they crouch down 

 with the head and neck held back, and the skinny little wings working to and fro." This 

 instinctive attitude indicates that the young receive their food from the beak of the parents. 

 Observation of the birds in the free state shows this is the case. 



* Habit and Instinct, p. 91. 



