136 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



birds. The Moorhen is resident in this country, 

 and remains in its accustomed haunts as long as 

 they are free from ice. This bird swims with a 

 peculiar bobbing motion of the head ; and whilst 

 walking about the land it frequently flicks its short 

 tail. Its note is a peculiarly grating cry, some- 

 thing like the word kick pronounced in several 

 syllables. This note is often heard as the bird 

 flies to and fro in the darkness of night. The 

 Moorhen feeds on worms, snails, small fish, and 

 various kinds of insects and their larvae, as well as 

 on the tender shoots and seeds of aquatic plants. 

 This bird is rather an early breeder, in many 

 districts its eggs being laid by the middle of 

 April. In the love season it is a somewhat pug- 

 nacious bird, and two rival males may sometimes 

 be observed in conflict. I once observed two 

 males fighting, the females quietly looking on in 

 the background. They raised their wings over 

 their back till the tips of the primaries were 

 almost directly above the head, and fought with 

 their beaks with great pertinacity, all the time 

 uttering a series of sharp but tremulous clicking 

 notes. The nest of this bird is usually made 

 amongst the flags and rushes by the waterside, 

 often several yards from shore. It is a bulky pile 

 of dead flags and rushes and leaves, and lined 

 with fine grass or dry rush and leaves of aquatic 

 vegetation. The eggs are from six to twelve in 

 number, reddish white in ground colour, somewhat 

 sparingly blotched and spotted with brownish red 

 and gray. The female sits closely, and generally 

 with head to wind ; but she is always careful to 

 cover her eggs, which she does remarkably 



