THE STILT-WALKERS. 107 



thick herbage. From the length of their toes, they can also walk over considerable spaces of still 

 waters, supported on the floating foliage of aquatic plants. The borders of rivers and lakes are their 

 favourite resorts, especially when the current is slow and deep, and the stream bordered with rocks 

 and herbage, as the latter affords a safe shelter during the day. The food of these birds consists of 

 slugs, worms, and insects, together with various kinds of grain and vegetable matter. The nest is 

 a thick mass of interlaced grasses, rushes, and flags, and is generally placed in a retired spot among 

 the reeds by the water-side. 



THE COMMON GALLINULE, OR MOOR-HEN. 



The Common Gallinule, or Moor-hen {Stagnicola, or Gallinida chloropus), is, notwithstanding 

 the plainness of its attire, a very beautiful bird. The plumage of the back is dark olive-brown, 

 elsewhere dark slate-grey ; the thighs are spotted with white, the region of the vent is pure white. 

 The colour of the eye is peculiar ; immediately round the pupil is a circle of yellow, to which succeeds 

 a second of green, while a third exterior ring is red. The beak towards its base is vermilion-red, 

 towards its apex yellow ; the foot greenish yellow. The length of this bird is twelve inches, its breadth 

 twenty-three inches ; the length of the wing seven inches and a half, and the length of the tail three 

 inches and a half. 



The habitat of the Moor-hen extends all over Europe and a considerable portion of Asia, but 

 it is seldom seen in Africa. In Europe, with the exception of the high northern latitudes, it is 

 everywhere common. In England it is met with at all seasons, whilst in Germany it is a bird of 

 passage, arriving about the end of March, and departing in October ; some few, however, remain all 

 through the winter. These birds generally travel by night, and probably on foot, at least some of 

 them have been captured under circumstances that lead to such a supposition. In early spring they 

 usually arrive in pairs, in the vicinity of their breeding-places, but occasionally they come singly, 

 Naumann, who watched a pair of Moor-hens from his garden for several consecutive years, some- 

 times observed that the males and sometimes the females appeared first ; on one occasion the female- 

 came alone, and seemed to use her best endeavours to get a partner to join her, but in vain, until 

 at length, after a fortnight's sojourn, she disappeared. On another occasion the male arrived by 

 himself, and seemed by no means to consider his solitary condition as one of single blessedness ; day 

 and night he reiterated his call-note, almost without intermission, and sometimes in such a pitiable 

 tone that it was almost distressing to hear him, until at length, on the fifth evening, his anxiously 

 looked-for mate arrived, and put an end to his love-lorn suspense. When a pair has once taken 

 possession of a suitable pond they are silent, but if a female is first upon the spot, she seems to invite 

 any passing male to join her. The individual so invited frequently flies around her in wide circles, as 

 though bethinking himself what he should do ; generally, however, he is content to pursue his journey 

 alone, as is made manifest by the renewed solicitations of the female. 



Slow waters, the margins of which are thickly covered with sedge and coarse grasses, or at 

 least with reeds and brushwood, and partially overgrown with floating herbage, afford the requisite 

 conditions for their residence. Each family of Moor-hens seems to prefer having a whole pond to 

 itself, and it is only on extensive pieces of water that several pairs are to be met with, and even in 

 this case each pair strives jealously to keep possession of its own territory. There is something 

 particularly pleasing in the appearance of these graceful and well-proportioned birds when undisturbed 

 in their quiet pools. As they move, the points of their wings cross each other, and their tail, held 

 perpendicularly upwards, is constantly kept moving in little jerks, their neck being bent into the 

 shape of the letter S, and their body laying horizontally on the water. Occasionally they come on 

 dry land to obtain a little repose, either on a tuft of weeds, or on the bough of a tree, or sometimes 



