Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/130

 on a piece of floating wood. Here they employ themselves in preening and oiling their feathers, preparatory to taking another swim, or to ensconcing themselves among the rushes and thick grass. Their narrow and apparently compressed bodies enable them to make their way with facility over weeds and leaves floating upon the top of the water. Upon firm ground they move lightly and gracefully, with long and measured steps, and should they be suddenly surprised, they will rise and fly to their pond, with a flight somewhat resembling that of a Barn-door Fowl. When on the water their power of diving is extraordinary; at the slightest appearance of danger they vanish like lightning, and having plunged beneath the surface, use both wings and feet to row themselves along. Should they under these circumstances be forced to come up again to breathe, only the beak is protruded, and that under the protecting shelter of a tuft of herbage.

(Porphyrio hyacinthinus).

The nest is usually placed among reeds on the ground, sometimes on the bank at the edge of the pool, occasionally among roots of trees, or long grass, or on branches overhanging the river, when there is danger of the water rising and overwhelming the nest. This instinctive forethought is, however, equalled, if not surpassed by the ready ingenuity of these birds when such a danger unexpectedly arises, as the following account by Mr. Selby will show: "During the early part of the