1920.] Birds of the Canary tsl and §. 12l 



which breed in Gran Caiiaria are resident througliout the 

 year, or whether they take their depai'ture when the young 

 are sutticiently strong. 



Further investigation on tiiese points is hadly wanted. 

 I append the somewhat conflicting statements of several 

 authorities. 



The Moorhen is first mentioned by Viera in his Diccionario 

 (1799) according to Savile Reid (Il)is, 1888, p. 76) under 

 the name "' polla de agua/' where it is stated to occur 

 occasionally in Gran Canaria. 



Webb and Berthelot (Oi'n. Canarienne, p. 40) wrote: "a 

 not very rare migrant in the winter. ^^ 



BoUe notes : " Frequently in winter during migration ''' 

 (J. f. O. 1855, p. 177), and later: "I saw the Waterhen in 

 several pairs breeding in the small reedy fishponds of 

 Arguineguin " (Gran Canaria). "Then it was known only 

 as a winter visitor" (J. f. O. 1857, p. 340). 



Meade-Waldo notes : " An occasional straggler " (Ibis, 

 1893, p. 202). Some Waterhens arrived with the i^reat 

 migration on April 25, 1890, in Tenerit'e (Ibis, 1890, p. 429). 



Cabrera shot several near Laguna and says : " An occa- 

 sional migrant, fairly numerous " (Catalogo, p. 61). 



Polatzek wrote : ''An occasional migrant, sometimes rather 

 numerous, I obtained a live one in Grand (^anary and I 

 found them also in Fuerteventura '^ (Orn. Jahrb. 1909, 

 p. 129). 



Von Thanner saw one in Fuertevenfcura on the 23rd of 

 March, 1904 (Orn. Jahrb. 1905, p. 65) and thought it bred 

 in the district known as Rio Palma and in the barranco 

 de la Torre (Orn. Jahrb. 1910, p. 100). In February 1909 

 he found it in the Maspalomas Charco (Gran Canaria), and 

 received a clutch of five eggs (apparently taken at this 

 place) in the summer (Orn. Jahrb. 1910, p. 100). 



My own experiences of the Waterhen have been confined 

 to spending about ten days in the Maspalomas Charco (in 

 February, 1912) without so much as catching a glimpse of 

 the bird, which may for all that have been present, so thick 

 was the vegetation (Ibis, 1912, pp. 565, 573). 



