CHAPTER Y. 
THE MOORHEN 
(Stagnicola chloropus ). 
“ The coot was swimming in the reedy pond, 
Beside the waterhen, so soon affrighted; 
And in the weedy moat the heron, fond 
Of solitude, alighted.” 
Thomas Hood. 
What man who has spent his boyish days amid 
country scenes has not followed the bird I am about to 
describe through the bullrushes, intent upon finding its 
floating nest with the red-spotted eggs; or has, at the 
very least, amused himself by watching its habits: in 
short, he knows the bird. Many, however, do not, so I 
will try and pourtray the Moorhen for the benefit of those 
who have not possessed the same advantages. 
Our Moorhen, Waterhen, Marshhen or Stankhen as it 
is differently called, is a charming creature, about the size 
of a Pigeon. Its feet and legs are long, and it has a 
frontal plate of naked, red skin on the forehead; its 
plumage is slate-coloured on the breast and belly, with 
white feathers on the sides.* It inhabits all the reedy 
* Oar author’s description of the plumage of the Moorhen is barely sufficient, 
we think, for the uninitiated, so we append a more definite one, taken from 
Macgillivray:—“Plumage of the head, neck, and lower parts, dark gray; of the 
hack and wings, deep olive-brown; edge of the wing and lower tail-coverts, white; 
oblong frontal plate and bill to beyond the nostrils, crimson-red; the tips, greenish 
yellow; feet, dull green, with a ring of bright red on the tibiae. Young similar, but 
with the frontal plate small, and the feathers of the lower parts edged with white.” 
— JV. J. 
