784 GALLINULA C11L0E0PUS. 



Habits.— In Eastern climes the Moorhen is, in common with most of the " Skulkers," found about jheels, 

 tanks, swamps, overgrown paddy-fields, and the like. In Great Britain and Europe it affects alike the hanks 

 of rivers, the margins of brooks and streams, large and small, the reedy shores of lakes, and (in England) 

 ornamental waters, artificial ponds, both in demesnes and farm-fields, as well as moors and marshes. Indeed 

 it would be hard to say where it will not take up its abode as long as it is unmolested and there is sufficient 

 food for its sustenance, and cover of suitable kind for it to nest in. Itris, as most Englishmen know, one of 

 the chief ornaments of all aquatic spots, whether it be in the park, where the shier Duck and Teal seldom 

 venture to put in an appearance, but where the Moorhen swims fearlessly about or plumes itself on the green 

 laurel-planted banks ; or whether it be at the bottom of the pretty elm-bordered field, where it can be seen from 

 the farmhouse door stalking warily along the hedge by the trickling brook, with its bright-red bill bobbing 

 forward and its white tail jerking up at each step. In these and in the many other spots where it makes 

 itself at home, the Moorhen must always be to the lover of nature a favourite bird. I have seen half a dozen 

 together on a lonely upland pool in Wales at an elevation of 1000 feet above the sea, which looked a most 

 uninviting spot, but where the Waterhen seemed quite as much at home as on the lowland brook. It often 

 affects the vicinity of houses, being, in fact, by nature the reverse of shy, and accustomed to accommodate 

 itself speedily to circumstances, as must be apparent to those who have seen it stalking unconcernedly about 

 sedgy spots while a train dashes by within a few yards of it. 



It swims very well, and passes much of its time afloat, though it does not progress rapidly on the water. 

 It dives well, and when surprised or chased in a spot where it has but little room to escape, it possesses 

 remarkable powers of concealing itself, such as forcing its way into a crevice beneath a bank, or sinking under 

 water with its bill only projecting, to enable it to breathe, and usually hidden by some floating leaf or reed, 

 where it will remain perfectly motionless until the danger it avoids is past. It likewise climbs with facility, 

 and conceals itself among the branches of thick shrubs. Unless disturbed it rarely takes wing, though I have 

 occasionally seen it of its own accord fly across rivers in Great Britain : its flight is laboured, and generally along 

 the surface of the water. Its food is usually vegetable matter, and is mixed often with a considerable quantity 

 of gravel, which, acted upon by the powerful muscles of its stomach, must rapidly perform the functions of 

 digestion. It also consumes aquatic insects, larvae, and fish, and when pressed by hunger becomes a perfectly 

 omnivorous creature. Lord Lilford states that it will even kill and devour young birds of all sorts, and is 

 consequently very destructive to game. Von Heuglin writes of it, as observed in Africa, that though it is 

 M>nu times met with in abundance, it is never seen collected in large flocks like Coots, and that it prefers the 

 smaller sedge- and rush-covered streams that exist in upland moors to large open waters, although it is seen, 

 now and then, on wild brooks which are lined with overhanging bushes. He noticed that the migration takes 

 place at night, the birds following the course of water in their flight. 



Dr. Scully observed that in the jheels in Turkestan they ran about with great ease on the fallen rushes 

 floating on the surface of the water. 



Nidification. — Regarding the breeding of the Waterhen in India, we gather from Mr. Hume's 'Nests and 

 Eggs ' (/. c.) that the season lasts from May till September, during which period they have two broods. In 

 the plains they lay in July, August, and September. " The nest," writes Mr. Hume, " varies much in size 

 and situation. Sometimes there is no nest at all, only a quantity of rush and rice bent down in situ to form 

 a platform to support the eggs. Sometimes it is built up in the water like a Coot's. Often it is in some tuft 

 or tussock of grass in a swamp, ditch, or pond. Occasionally it is wedged up several inches above the water in 

 some tamarisk or babool-bush growing in a lake or jheel. In these latter cases (and I have seen two such) 

 the nest is rather neater and more carefully built, composed of soft dry flag, with a well-formed shallow 

 circular cavity, lined with somewhat firm rush. Generally the nest, when there is one, though firm enough 

 (not nearly so firm, however, as a Coot's), is a rather ragged affair, the lower portion rotting in the water, and 

 the upper part very carelessly put together of dry or half-dry straw, flags, rush, or reed, and not unfrequently 

 an admixture of weeds." Nine is considered the full complement of eggs ; and Mr. Hume finds that they are 

 undistinguishable from specimens collected in Europe. The shell is described as " compact and firm, with 

 little or no gloss. In shape the eggs are normally moderately broad, nearly perfect ovals, slightly compressed 



