May 



By climbing out along the branches supporting 

 the nest, and tying my camera-legs to them, I 

 was able to photograph her nest and seven eggs. 

 While I was so engaged, the moorhen fell to feeding 

 at the edge of the lake, honouring me from time 

 to time by an expression of mild displeasure, but 

 in other respects behaving like the highly sensible 

 bird she is. 



A clutch of moorhen's eggs consists usually or 

 from seven to nine, but I recently came upon a nest 

 containing eleven eggs, as shown by the picture. 

 There was but one hen to this nest, as I proved by 

 watching it for a whole day. 



Recently I came upon a number of domestic 

 hens feeding on a public way, and passed them, 

 casting a careless glance at a small black hen feeding 

 with them. After I had passed, some inner prompt- 

 ing caused me to look back, and I then noticed that 

 this small black hen was proceeding with stately 

 carriage and nodding motion toward some bushes 

 enclosing a secluded pond, and there was no mistaking 

 the red bill and the white under coverts of the slowly 

 jerked tail as she disappeared. It was a moorhen. 



Upon visiting a week later the second of the 

 nests referred to above, I found it empty. The 

 water of the lake, which quickly rises and as quickly 

 subsides, had drawn off from under the nest, leaving 

 a six-foot drop from the latter into soft slime. How 

 had the bird got her young ones down ? for I 

 found them on the other side of the lake, little 



