40 



British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



and are grey, with a smooth but not glossy shell. Both sexes incubate, the female 

 taking the night duty. Lord Lilford states that he has several times observed 

 young birds of the first brood assisting their parents in building a second nest; 

 he adds :— " I look upon the Water-hen as an enemy to the game preserver, not 

 only from the quantity of Pheasant food which it devours, but from the fact that 

 it will attack, kill, and eat young birds of all sorts. The bird is a great favourite 

 of mine, and I should be sorry to encourage its destruction, but I am persuaded 

 it is a dangerous neighbour to young game birds." 



The female Moor-hen has the fore part of the plumage deep greyish slaty- 

 blue, the back and wings being dark brown, as are the quill feathers, but the first 

 primary has an edge of pure white, and the flanks are covered with long white 

 stripes. The base of the bill and front of the head are bright red, and the legs 

 are dull green, with a red band upon the tarsal joint. The female is about thirteen 

 inches in length. The males resemble the females, but it is remarkable that 

 they are smaller in size and duller in colour. The young, when first hatched, 

 are covered with hair-like sooty down, with white points on the head and throat. 



Mr. Oswin Lee writes : — " It is a very pretty sight to see these graceful birds 

 walking gingerly along the top of the floating weeds or dense masses of the leaves 

 of the water-lily. When suddenly alarmed on the water, the Moor-hen usually 

 dives at once, and swims with great rapidity under water to the nearest cover of 

 reeds or water-plants ; there it will often lie hid for a considerable length of time 

 with only its bill projecting above the surface. Like the Grebes, the Moor-hen 

 will dive with its young, holding them under its wing, and conveying them to a 

 place of safety. In severe winters the Water-hen leaves its haunts, which have 

 been completely frozen up, and betakes itself to some farm-yard or poultry-pen 

 where it contrives to find a living till thaw sets in and it can return to its usual 

 quarters. On such occasions they are very tame, and I have often seen them in 

 a poultry-yard feeding among the hens quite unconcernedly." 



The flesh of the Water-hen may be regarded as very good food, and the 

 eggs are much sought after for their excellence, and were it not for their destructive 

 tendency amongst the young of other species, they would stand a very fair chance 

 of being protected for their utility. In some places the Water-hens are largely 

 preyed upon by foxes. They are also devoured by otters, and the young birds 

 are swallowed by the carnivorous pike. 



The Moor-hen is one of the birds in which a singular variation of plumage 

 may be occasionally observed. The feathers are destitute of the smaller barbules 

 that hold the barbs of an ordinary feather together, and causes it to constitute a 

 plain surface, hence each feather becomes hair}-, the whole plumage having a soft 



