MOOR- HENS DIVING 16$ 



above the' water ; and I believe that they must 

 have been the same pair which had their nests 

 destroyed' in the year previous, and that they thus 

 profited by stern experience. The seven, young 

 were safely : reared ; and. last year this same pair 

 built in another bush over the water not "far. from 

 their site of the' season before. It -was quite, a 

 study to watch them there.; whenever any -one 

 approached, the i sitting hen would, with closed 

 wings, dive from her elevated seat into the water 

 beneath ; and so well was this feat done, that 

 hardly, a ripple was seen on the surface of the 

 stream, 'the only indication of disturbance being 

 a "plop" when the diver reached the .water. 

 While the hen was sitting, her mate might nearly 

 always .be seen lingering about. a yard or so from 

 the nest ;; he would never dive ; but; if frightened 

 would fly from the bush with a, loud flapping of 

 wings while struggling to get through the branches. 

 I was very anxious to see how the young birds 

 got from the nest 'to the water, or whether their 

 parents fed them while in the nest; but although 

 I went .many, times I was unable to discover ;. the 

 young on one occasion had disappeared, so that 

 they evidently took to the water as soon as they 

 were hatched. 



I watched these Moor-hens very closely through 



