184 
AMONG THE REEDS AND SEDGES. 
nothing but tlie "bill above the water. I have seen it thus betake 
itself to the margin, when, on my going up to the spot, thinking the 
motion among the grass had been produced by a water-rat, it sprang 
up from under the water and flew away. On other occasions I have 
traced it under the overhanging earth, in a hole among the stones, 
and behind a waterfall. AVhen disturbed in a large pool or lake, it 
either swims out to the open water, or betakes itself to the reeds or 
sedges, among which it remains concealed until the danger is over; 
and from its hiding-place it is not easily scared, for as its power of 
flight is not of a high order, it prefers the asylum of the water. 
I know of few sights more pleasing than that of a brood of young 
Water-hens, led forth by their parents to feed and sport along the* 
silent margins of a lake or pool, thickly studded with water-lilies. 
The lime and walnut are beginning' to shed their fragrance, hardly 
surpassed by that of the citron groves of Andalusia, or the odours of 
' Araby the blest.' Yon castellated mansion, once the seat of lordly 
baron or gallant knight, but now hoary with age and crumbling into 
ruins, gives solemnity to the scene. The setting sun flings his golden 
rays across the lake, skirting the green woods, and tinting here and 
there the crested turret, the overhanging cliff, and the moss-crowned 
height. Beside yon pollard willow the cow crops the fresh grass, 
while forth sails the stately swan, giving her ample bosom to the 
watery expanse, now ruffled by the evening breeze. There too, afar, 
stands the Heron, watching his finny prey : the garrulous Wild Ducks 
chequer the little islands, the Coot cries from amid the sedge, the 
Sandpiper wails along the shingly beach, and the sonorous croak of 
the Carrion Crow is heard from the distant wood. Other sights and 
sounds mingle with these, reminding us that we are in happy Eng- 
land, but leading us to forget the object of our contemplation — the 
Water-hen. Often this bird, partly crepuscular in its habits, startles 
the evening wanderer \\dth its sharply-reiterated chuck. In autumn 
it will haunt stubbles, for the purpose of feeding on different kinds 
of small seeds, which are found in abundance lying on the ground 
after the fields are cleared by the husbandman. I have repeatedly 
seen it perch on lofty trees after being flushed, and have knoTvn it 
to frequent the branches of willows and other shrubs growing near 
the water. When pursued, it shows great adroitness in keeping its 
body beneath the water, leaving only its bill exposed, so that it may 
obtain the necessary supply of air until its enemies are past. In such 
cases I have more than once caught it by dragging it out of the water 
by the feet, when I have been trammelling for tench or carp. When 
domesticated it becomes pugnacious, and will drive away domestic 
poultry from their feeding-places, manifesting a disposition widely 
different from what might be expected from the timidity which it 
evinces when in its native liberty. 
Garratt, in hia ' Marvels and Mysteries of Instinct,' 
writes thus 
