CAP. iv.1 MODES OF TRAVELLING. 285 



satisfactory report ; and we believe that if every indi- 

 vidual Water Hen were eaten to-morrow, there would 

 again be as many as ever in a fortnight by immigration 

 from some quarter or another, to occupy the vacant 

 space, their world of weeds, and bulrushes, and sedge. 



Water Hens not only swim but dive with ease, re- 

 maining apparently a very considerable time under the 

 surface. We say, apparently ; because they have the 

 cunning to stop in any convenient clump of weeds, put 

 just their head, or part of it out of the water, take 

 breath, and then go on again. Their progress may 

 often be traced by the motion of the weeds, like that 

 occasioned by the passage of a large fish. That these 

 subaqueous excursions are habitually undertaken as a 

 matter of business, and not as mere pleasure trips, or 

 attempts to escape pursuit, is proved by the statement, 

 that they are often to be caught under water by a hook 

 baited with a worm. They are also fond of running 

 rapidly on the surface of the water (like St. Peter's 

 bird, the Stormy Petrel), partially assisted by their 

 wings, but mainly supported by their long toes, spread 

 out over comparatively a large area of floating vegeta- 

 tion, exactly as a skater may glide rapidly over thin ice, 

 which would let him through were he to stand still ; but 

 when the weeds are thick and the lily leaves full grown, 

 they step boldly and demurely on, picking up their food, 

 and halting in their way with as much coolness as if 

 they were enjoying a promenade on terra firma. 



The subjoined post mortem of two Water Hens killed 

 at the end of a frost, from a friendly correspondent, 

 is to the purpose. " Gizzards filled with grass and 

 reeds, less powerful than in granivorous birds, i. 0., in 

 the birds that habitually get grain : the inner mem- 



