THE WATER HEN. 323 



the globe, tlieir favourite haunts being marshy places and the banks 

 of lakes or rivers, where they feed on worms, insects, mollusks, 

 and the smaller fish. They are lively, graceful, and ornamental 

 birds. During the day they love to lie hid among the reeds, 

 shaded from the sun's rays by the large leaves of the water-lily. 

 They emerge from their hiding-places at evening and morning in 

 search of food. 



Although incapable of either fast flight or rising to great 

 elevations, the Water Hen shows considerable address in escaping 

 from the sportsman's gun. When pressed very closely, they take 

 to the water, in which they are expert swimmers and divers : 

 under the water they go, to reappear on the surface many 

 yards away, where they only show themselves above for a mo- 

 ment to breathe, avoiding flight until every cause of fear is 

 removed. 



In some countries they remain throughout the year ; in others, 

 on the contrary, they are migratory. When the latter is the 

 case, they travel sometimes on foot, sometimes by swimming, 

 and sometimes on the wing ; following the same route, how- 

 ever, year after year, and always returning with constancy to the 

 spot where they made their first nest. 



The eggs are seven or eight in number. During incubation 

 the male and female occupy the nest alternately. Should any 

 intruder alarm them, they never fail, before leaving the nest, to 

 cover up their cherished treasures with grass or other material, so 

 as to keep them warm and hidden from the voracity of their 

 watchful enemy, the Crow. 



Immediately after the young are hatched they leave the nest 

 to follow their mother, and are very soon able to supply their 

 own wants. Their only covering at first is a scanty and coarse 

 down ; but they run rapidly, and seem almost instinctively to 

 swim and dive and conceal themselves at the slightest appearance 

 of danger. Young Water Hens, however, are exposed to acci- 

 dent from the flooding of streams, and consequent submersion 

 of the nests ; and it is probably by way of compensation for this 

 that nature has made them so prolific, for frequently they rear 

 three broods per annum. 



The Common Water lien (Fig. 117) is a native of Europe ; 



Y2 



