348 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



prevent their increase ; that is, of course, where the 

 water is carefully preserved. Here they are not so 

 persistently hunted. I have seen coots, and moorhens 

 too, venture some distance up the dark arch of a 

 culvert. Moorhens are fond of bridges, and frequently 

 feed under them. When alarmed, after diving, the 

 moorhen does not always come right up to the sur- 

 face, but merely protrudes its head to breathe. 



One day I startled a moorhen in a shallow pond ; 

 instantly the bird dived, and I watched to see where 

 it would come up, knowing that the moorhen cannot 

 stay long under water, while there chanced to be 

 scarcely any bushes or cover round the edge. After 

 waiting some time, and wondering what had become 

 of the bird, I fancied I saw some duckweed slightly 

 agitated. Looking more carefully, it seemed as if 

 there was something very small moving now and then 

 just there the spot was not more than fifteen yards 

 distant. It was as if the beak of a bird, the body 

 and most of the head quite hidden and under water, 

 were picking or feeding among the duckweed. This 

 continued for some few minutes, when I shot at the 

 spot, and immediately a moorhen rose to the surface. 

 As the pond was very shallow, the bird must have 

 stood on the bottom, and so resumed its feeding with 

 the beak just above the surface. 



