106 



The Naturalist. 



leave the locality for a few hours. On returning, the bird rose 

 when we were nearly half-a-mile off. It now began to rain heavily, 

 which was an advantage, for now she could not leave her eggs long. 

 Lying in the heather in our mackintoshes, a few hundred yards 

 from where we knew the nest must be, we waited for a quarter 

 of an hour. This time, the exact spot from which the bird 

 rose was detected, and the nest found. It occupied a tussock 

 of dry grass, standing six inches above the surface of the water, in 

 a small shallow lagoon. It was composed of dry grass, and 

 contained four fresh eggs. On other occasions we put up this 

 species in the marsh, when it proved to be a very noisy bird. 



Ruff- and-Reeve {KempJmar). — Observed, but far from numerous. No 

 eggs had been laid up to the date of our departure. 



Common Snipe {Snip). — Only two seen. 



Jack Snipe. — A pair seen on the Tongreep marsh on the 7th. 



Spotted Crake {Klein Waterheti). — A most abundant species in the 

 Tongreep marshes, but the nest in these extensive swamps is very 

 difficult to find. The old birds, whilst you are traversing their 

 haunts, will run about your feet, and with great difficulty can be 

 made to rise, and then they flutter on weak wing for a yard or two 

 only. I purchased a bird from some boys, which had been caught 

 by a dog. On the 11th, whilst striding from one tussock to 

 another, a crake slipped off her nest, which was quite under 

 my foot. How she escaped death I cannot tell. The tussock was 

 a tall one of green marsh grass, standing two feet above the surface 

 of the water ; in the centre was a hollow, lined with short pieces of 

 dry grass, each about two inches long, in which were thirteen eggs, 

 two of which were broken by my foot. After this we found several 

 nests, and I noticed that when the situation was very wet, the bird 

 made a considerable nest of dry grass. Sometimes the nest and 

 eggs were in the water, and quite buried under tangled grass of 

 the marsh. 



Moorhen (Waterhen). 



Water Rail {Waterral). — Perhaps not quite so numerous as the 

 spotted crake, and confined to the marshes of the Dommel. A fair 

 series of eggs were obtained from nests of grass, placed in dry 

 tussocks in shallow water. Eggs eight and ten in number. 



Shoveller {De sloheend). — This species was observed on the Tongreep. 



Pintail Duck (Pijlstaart). — This species was easily distinguished when 

 on the wing by the long attenuated tail. It was scarce, and con- 



