214 Moor-hens. 



mud ma^y be traced : the^^ run swiftly, and depend 

 upon that speed and the skilful tricks they practise in 

 diving — turning back and dodging under water like 

 a hare in the fields — to escape from pursuit, rather 

 than on their wings. Through the thick green flags 

 the}- creep, and into the holes the water-rats have 

 made, or behind and under the natural cavities in the 

 stoles upon the bank. They beat the water with 

 their wings when they rise, showering the spray on 

 either side, for a short distance, and then, ascending 

 on an inclined plane, fly heavil}-, but with some 

 strength. 



At night is their time of journeying, when they 

 come down from the lake or return to it, uttering a 

 weird cry in the darkened atmosphere. By day, as 

 they swim to and fro in the flags and through the 

 duckweed, shaded from the hot sun under willow and 

 aspen, they call to each other, not unpleasantly, a 

 note something hke ' croog,' with a twirl of the ' r.' 

 In summer they do not move far from the place they 

 have chosen to breed in : in the frosts of winter they 

 work their way up the brooks, or fly at night, but 

 usually come back to the old spot. The dabehick, a 

 slender bird, haunts the pond here too, diving even 

 more quickly than the moor-hen. 



Nut-tree bushes grow along the bank of the brook 

 on this side — the nuts are a smaller sort than usual ; 

 and beside the wet ditch within the mound and on 

 the ' shore,' wherever the scythe has not reached, 

 the meadow-sweet rears its pale flowers. At even- 

 ing, if it be sultry, and on some days, especially 

 before a thunderstorm, the whole mead is full of 

 the fragrance of this plant, which lines the inside 



