172 tN BIRD-LAND 



were failures, owing partly to darkness under the 

 shadow of trees. The picture was obtained by 

 very cautiously stalking up to the bird on her nest, 

 which was built under the roots of a tree, and then 

 taking a snap-shot as she left ; but as I had to 

 get within three yards before exposing the plate, 

 much caution and patience in approaching were 

 needed. 



I have repeatedly roused a roosting Moor-hen 

 from the top of a tall fir-tree, while walking 

 on the borders of the wood of an evening. When 

 thus roused they fly very strongly ; but when 

 scared, while on the ground, they seem to have 

 great difficulty in quickly rising, half running 

 and half flying for some distance before they 

 get fairly on the wing. 



A friend once informed me of a Moor-hen which 

 used to visit a farmyard during the severe weather, 

 while the fowls were being fed, for the sake of 

 sharing their meal. 



Several of the bushes on one side of the stream 

 lean over to the opposite side, and nettles, with 

 other wild plants, grow up and meet the branches ; 

 and it is among such tangled vegetation that 

 Thrushes love to build and rear their brood. 

 These nettles grow in large patches along the 

 Brook banks, and offer cover also for numerous 



