MOOR-HEN. 135 



of the Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds say, that 

 two young Moor-hens, which were hatched under a Hen, 

 used to take their food from the bill of their foster-mother ; 

 and it was not till they were several weeks old that they 

 would pick their food from the ground. We have, not- 

 withstanding, observed this bird in its natural state, when 

 it had only been hatched a few days, running about upon 

 the tops of the weeds and picking insects from them. 

 Pennant says, Moor-hens might possibly be domesticated, 

 for a pair in his grounds never failed appearing when he 

 called his ducks to feed, and partook before him of the corn. 

 Among the many aquatic birds with which the Ornithologi- 

 cal Society have stocked the canal and the islands in St. 

 James's Park, are several Moor-hens : in the course of the 

 summer of 1841, two broods were produced, the young of 

 which were so tame that they would leave the water and 

 come up close to your feet on the path to receive crumbs 

 of bread. I may also remark that in this instance, as in 

 that referred to by Mr. Boultbee, the young of the second 

 brood were brought up by the young of the first 

 brood. In winter, during hard frost, when ponds are frozen 

 over, Moor-hens resort to running streams, and harbour 

 in plantations, hedgerows, and thick bushes; roosting in 

 firs, thorn-trees, and others that are covered with ivy, 

 feeding probably on the berries. Mr. Jesse mentions that, 

 during the frost of the winter of 1832, a pair of Water- 

 hens kept almost entirely in a large arbutus tree, on the 

 lawn of a house belonging to a lady at Hampton Wick, 

 which was enclosed by a high paling, and no pond was 

 near it. Here they probably fed on the berries of the 

 tree, and other produce of the garden. The tree, however, 

 was always their place of refuge if they happened to be 

 disturbed when feeding in the garden. 



When the ice disappears, Moor-hens return to the ponds. 



