By Marsh and Mere 



those of both Moorhen and Corncrake, but are 

 smaller and speckled rather more sparingly with 

 reddish spots on a creamy white ground colour. 

 In addition there are clearly defined underlying 

 markings of lilac grey. The smaller size of the 

 eggs will prevent their being confused with those 

 of the Moorhen, while the situation of the nest 

 should ensure its being distinguished from the 

 Corncrake's. 



Some reference ought, perhaps, to be made here 

 to the Divers, for, though by no means common, 

 and restricted in their range during the nesting 

 season to the North of Scotland and a few lakes 

 in Ireland, it is in them that the peculiar develop- 

 ment for swimming and diving reaches its extreme 

 form. Their whole lives are spent on the water, 

 and their legs are placed so far back, to give them 

 the greatest perfection in swimming, that it is a 

 physical impossibility for the birds to stand 

 upright on land. 



Their two eggs are laid in a slight depression 

 in the ground not many feet from the water, and 

 as incubation proceeds two well-marked tracks are 

 formed by the birds, one leading from the water 

 to the nest, the other from the nest to the water. 

 Both male and female share in the duties of 

 hatching the eggs, and as one bird pushes its way 

 up one track, its mate leaves the eggs and slides 

 down the other to the water. 



Two species are known to breed with us, 



85 



