able height from the ground or water-level; seven or 
eight eggs is about an average complement in my expe- 
rience, but I have often met with nine, and occasionally 
with ten. Three broods are generally reared, and I 
have repeatedly observed the young birds of the early 
broods busily at work with (as I suppose) their parents, 
im repairing an old nest or building a new one. The 
young birds of the year have a habit also of making 
sham nests or platforms of bent-flags and bulrushes as 
resting- or roosting-places for their own use. The old 
Water-Hens are extremely pugnacious, and are very 
dangerous neighbours to young Game-birds and Wild- 
fowl, which they not only kill, but will greedily devour. 
In spite of these crimes I personally take great delight 
in observing the habits of this species, and look upon it 
as a great ornament to our waters. As long as it can 
find any open waters the Water-Hen will cling to its 
favourite haunts, in spite of severe frosts; in fact, so 
long did they linger on the Nene in the neighbourhood 
of Lilford during the terrible winter of 1890 and 1891, 
that a very great number were found dead and dying of 
starvation, and at this time of writing (June 1891) 
there are certainly not two for every twenty that might 
be seen on our river at this season last year. I do not 
intend to imply that this loss is solely due to actual 
starvation, but the severity of the weather and the ice- 
bound river and ponds rendered the poor birds a more 
than ever easy prey to their many enemies—the merciless 
human loafer and his dog, the fox, the otter, the Sparrow- 
Hawk, and the Crow family in general; no doubt I may 
safely add the rat and 47s enemies, the stoat and weasel, 
