THK WATER HEN. 



545 



Sometimes it is made on the groiind, and in that case is 

 laid among sedges and rushes where the water cannot reach it. 

 The Water Hen, however, is not averse to nesting in a warm and 

 comfortable place, for Mr. Waterton mentions that on one occa- 

 sion, when he had built a neat little brick house for a duck, and 

 furnished it with dry hay for a nest, a Water Hen took possession 

 of it, and the duck had to find a home elsewhere. 



WATER HEX AXD XEST. 



Sometimes the nest is made on a branch, and in that case the 

 bird selects a very low bough which overhangs the water. I 

 have found several nests thus placed, and in one case the only 

 method of getting at the nest was to enter the water and swim 

 round to it. It is a large and rudely made nest, and from its 

 size appears to be more conspicuous than is really the case. 



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