344 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



than is now the case ; but, for the last hundred years at least, it 

 has been chiefly a winter visitant. Dr. Heysham exactly states 

 my own independent opinion when he says : ' The Water Eail 

 visits this county [Cumberland] in the beginning of winter, and 

 leaves it pretty early in the spring/ In the summer-time it 

 must be very local, because its loud cry (which has also attracted 

 my attention in severe weather) would always announce its 

 presence in any of its haunts. Mr. Tom Duckworth has eggs 

 taken on Rockliffe Moss, and they have been obtained in the 

 vicinity of Penrith. It has bred also on the river Eden, and 

 perhaps elsewhere. It should, however, be remembered that 

 Dr. Gough includes it in his Kendal list as a not uncommon 

 'icinter visitant.' From September to March it occurs irregularly 

 all over Lakeland, especially the western portion of that region, 

 as in Wastwater and in the Rusland valley, where Mr. C. F. 

 Archibald has shot several when searching unsuccessfully for 

 Spotted Crakes. A few Water Rails are always killed in the 

 neighbourhood of the Eden in late autumn, and are often exposed 

 for sale in Carlisle. Apparently they have always been regarded 

 as suitable for food, since we find, among other entries in Lord 

 William Howard's accounts for 1620, the following: ' 3 gulls, 

 a mallerd, one skeldrake, 3 sey mewes, one curlue, a water 

 creake, iijs.' These birds were obtained between the 2nd and 

 9th of September. Another entry follows : ' Water creakes, 

 xij d .' 



MOORHEN. 



Gallinula chlorojms (L.). 



The homely presence of the Moorhen adds an interest of its 

 own to summer evening rambles beside the becks and backwaters 

 of Lakeland. It breeds on the Kent, on the Caldew, and most 

 of our rivers, as well as on such inland waters as Whin's Pond, 

 where the nest is often built on tree trunks, occasionally 20 

 feet above the water, just as sometimes it is built in the middle 

 of a wood at a distance from any water. The sight of the 

 Moorhen's simple nest and spotted egg-shells often serves as 

 a pleasant incident in an uneventful afternoon. Wading ankle- 

 deep through the green, velvety moss which borders many of 



