i 4 7 A BIRD CALENDAR 



every village which boasts of a tank and a 

 bamboo clump, no matter how small these be. 

 The water-hen is a black bird about the size 

 of the average bazaar fowl, with a white face, 

 throat and breast. It carries its short tail 

 almost erect, and under this is a patch of 

 brick-red feathers. During most seasons of 

 the year it is a silent bird, but from mid- 

 May until the end of the monsoon it is ex- 

 ceedingly noisy, and, were it in the habit of 

 haunting our gardens and compounds, its 

 cries would attract as much attention as do 

 those of the koel and the brain-fever bird. 

 As, however, water-hens are confined to tiny 

 hamlets situated far away from cities, many 

 people are not acquainted with their calls, 

 which " Eha " describes as " roars, hiccups 

 and cackles." The nest is built in a bamboo 

 clump or other dense thicket. The eggs are 

 stone-coloured, with spots of brown, red and 

 purple. The young birds, when first hatched, 

 are covered with black down, and look like 

 little black ducklings. They can run, swim 

 and dive as soon as they leave the egg. Little 

 parties of them are to be seen at the edge of 

 most village tanks in August. 



The resident ducks are all busy with their 



