

WATERHEN. 559 



escape the shot that was aimed at it, and progressing with great speed 

 under water, it will make for the reeds or the aquatic vegetation, where it 

 conceals itself. Occasionally it will remain for some considerable time with 

 its body submerged and only the point of its bill out of the water, main- 

 taining its position by clinging to the stems of the water-plants with its 

 long toes. If suddenly alarmed on the land, the Moorhen usually takes 

 wing at once, and hurries off to the nearest cover with its legs hanging 

 down as if broken. Its flight is not very powerful, and the wings do not 

 seem strong enough to support the body ; but once the bird gets well into 

 the air its flight is rapid and well sustained. The Moorhen often flies at a 

 considerable height, generally at night, and in some districts it appears to 

 take these nocturnal wanderings merely for amusement, or perhaps for the 

 purpose of catching certain species of insects. Dixon has often known 

 this bird to fly round and round in the air for an hour or more at night, 

 every now and then uttering its singular cry. Sometimes when the 

 Waterhen is feeding in the meadows near its favourite water it will, when 

 alarmed, stretch out its neck to its full length for a moment as if watch- 

 ing or listening, and then run off at full speed to the nearest cover. It 

 is very remarkable how this bird will conceal itself even in places where 

 there is little cover, and where all means of escape seem impossible. 



The Waterhen is rather pugnacious, and is very jealous of its own 

 particular haunt. A pair of birds will take up their quarters on some 

 small pond, or if a large sheet of water, some particular part of it, from 

 which they drive off all intruders, and will even attack much larger birds 

 than themselves, such as Geese and Ducks, if they happen to invade the 

 sacred haunt. 



The food of the Waterhen is varied. It feeds largely on the different 

 species of aquatic insects, worms, and the larvae of dragonflies ; and on 

 the land it searches for slugs and worms amongst the grass. To this fare 

 is added much of a vegetable nature, such as the buds, shoots, and seeds 

 of water-plants and grass. In winter, especially during a long-continued 

 frost, the bird may often be seen in the hawthorn trees eating the haws 

 or scrambling amongst the brambles to pick off the hips of the wild rose. 

 In districts where the haunt of this bird is exposed and bleak it will often, 

 in winter, seek shelter amongst the tangled undergrowth of the neighbour- 

 ing woods ; whilst if evergreens be near, nothing suits it so well as to wander 

 under the low drooping branches or even roost amongst them. 



The Waterhen has been known to display carnivorous propensities, kill- 

 ing and eating young Pheasants and destroying Ducklings. In many 

 places it is so tame as to come onto the lawn to be fed, or mingle with 

 Pheasants and poultry to pick up the food that has been scattered for 

 them. The note of the Waterhen is a loud, shrill kek-ek-ek, modulated in 

 various ways into kik-ik-ik or kerk-erk-erk. 



