VOL. XI.] NOTES ON THE MOOR-HEN. 175 
fed by their parents, enabling the old birds to see and find 
them quickly among the water-side vegetation. But after 
careful watching I cannot say I have obtained any evidence 
confirmatory of this ingenious theory. The little ones follow 
the old birds about closely, and if they do get lost among 
the water-side undergrowth it is their shrill persistent squeak 
- which brings their parents back to them. But certainly the 
brilliant colouring persists while the chicks are dependent on 
the old birds for food, and vanishes when they can look after 
themselves. In the case of two young that I reared under a 
hen the bright hues began to disappear on the eighteenth day. 
A dark line which divided the yellow tip from the red of the 
upper part of the beak grew broader. By the thirty-first day 
a dark patch had appeared on the shield, and the two areas 
spread and met, so that by the time the dull greyish plumage 
was assumed the scarlet had disappeared. In the case of a 
bird I kept under observation during the winter 1916-17 it was 
not regained until the end of February, but the severe weather 
may have had a retarding effect. 
Judging both from the behaviour of young wild birds I 
have watched and of the chicks reared under a hen, they do not 
pick up any food for themselves for the first few days—the 
latter had to be hand fed—and for some little time longer are 
dependent on the old birds to find it for them. When anxious 
to be fed they squeak and quiver their little wings, the few 
bits of fluff on their semi-bald heads lying flat to the skin, but 
when satisfied these scraps of down stand upright. By three 
weeks old they can find food for themselves, but still go about 
with the old birds and expect to be fed. I have seen a quite 
big bird, clad in the dull grey-brown plumage, swimming after 
an old one and imploring with piteous squeaks to be given 
food. This livery seems to be the badge of independence and 
is assumed at about five weeks old. They are full grown and 
ean fly well at seven weeks. During the autumn the rusty 
grey colour is gradually lost, and by November the adult 
plumage is assumed, though as I have already mentioned the 
scarlet shield, together with the red band round the leg, may 
not be acquired until later. 
The time of the reappearance of the scarlet is subject to 
considerable variation, for a bird hatched on July Ist, 1917, 
had the full adult colouring by the end of the following 
October. Once regained, the bright colouring persists in its 
full intensity even during the moult. 
During the winter young Moor-Hens remain with their 
parents, old birds and the young of different clutches living 
in perfect harmony. Being almost omnivorous feeders Moor- 
Hens are not seriously inconvenienced by even the hardest 
