ally be admitted. This was done while: the! female was' 'sitting;
ancLas the nest had been built wheri.-<the water ley&h stood-
low, the sudden influx of this large body-of water from; the
second pond caused a rise of-several inches;; so ast®bhr eaten
the speedy immersion and consequent destruction of.the eggs.
This the birds seem to have been aware of, .and immediately
took precautions against so imminent a dangérl for when
the gardener, Upon whose; veracityT can safely rely, seeing
the sudden rise of the watermunt to look after- the mest,, expecting
to find it covered, and the eggs destroyed,cor^ai -least
forsaken by the hen, he observed, while at a distance; both
birds busily engaged about the brink where .the nest *was
placed; and, when near enough* fie clearly pereeived that they
were adding, with all possible a c isp * e ^ # e sly m aterial to
raise the fabric beyond the level ofjthe* on creased contents of
the pond, and that the eggs had, byjsome mèans, been. rer
moved from the nest - by the birds, and werfeathen deposited
upon the grass, about a foot or more'from the.margin of the
water. He watched them for some time, and saw the nest
rapidly increase in height ; but I regret to add,; that he'did
not remain long-enough,- fearifig, -he might create-alarm, to
witness the interesting act of the replacing of the eggs, which
must have been effected shortly afterwards; for upon 'his return,
in less than an hour, he found the hen quietly: sitting
upon them in the newly raised nest. In a few. days-afterwards
the young were hatched, and, as usual, soon quitted
the nést and took to the water with their patents*? Themes!
was shown to me .in situ very soon afterwards, and I could
then plainly discern thé formation of the new with the older
part of the fabric.”
The eggs are usually seven or eight in number, of a reddish
white colour, thinly spotted and speckled with orange-
brown; the length one inch eight lines., by onë inch three
lines and a half in breadth. Incubation lasts three weeks,
and they prod u c^lff^ lif- not three broods in a season,
the first o'fijwhich^s generally hatched by the end of May.
J . M. BoultbeC,^Esq., in. a letter ,tó therRev. W. T. Bree,
says; “ At thebbottorirgsafthe v^alk-between the house and our
garden, in winter,, runs ayfitbek, but in summer there is only
still wate^which fis- inbubkedfbÿ Water-hens, &c. The
Water-hens have; béçoîpe quite tame^ffem persons constantly
passing' andstepasskgj- , T h is7 f;e ^ -^ g ^ ;^ in the spring, a
pair of--them hatched some,;pjung, ones ; ? arid, as soon as they
were fea$fieied^«made - another mest /»and- hatched .some more*
The young ones/pf/the see<Mjd hatch left the old* birds, and
have been ^adopted %y .the^y oung^ft^s»of the. first hatch, who
have eachitakenione,t*and^eemji|9,';kfe' as- much care of them
asitle; old onesicould h a^d o rie$ they^feedlthem, and never
leaver them. Only ;^ieA^oung one < oei»aM(ed with thejoM
hen.” giThe authors mf-thei. Catalogué of Norfolk and Suffolk
Birds.says that twojpnung Moor-hens;;4whieh were hatched
under a Hen, used to takA their,-food from. thg^billftof theiE
faster-mother ; and it W as?n&^j thepwere-sè-verab weeks old
that they would pick their f^ddfrom the ground. We have;
notwithstanding, observed this.bird in jtstnatuml state, when
|k h ad only been hatched a few days;>rüu,ning about.upon the
tops .©futheiiwCeds; and picking, insects from them* Pennant
s$ys Moorhens might possibly be domesticated, for a pair in
his grounds never (f$üejd appearing when.«« he- called" his- ducks
to, feed, and partook?b.ëfcrie him; of the com. Among the
many aquatic*, firds w-ikh^-whiche the- -Ornithological Society
have stocked the canal and;the island^ i|i:, St.- James’sP a rk ,
are several- Moor-hens : in the*epi^|}^of, the present summer,
|ɧ41, two, broods hake-' been produced, the young of. which
are so tame, that they leave the water arid come, up closè to
your feet on the path tp-aecpiye crumbs of bread. In winter;
during h ard /rost, ^ b c n k ip o ^ i are frozen .-„over, Moor-hens
resort to running streams, and harbour in plantations»^ hedge