Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/402

368 shows the eggs well in a characteristic bed of rushes. But the cleverest of all are the pictures taken by Mr. O.G. Pike (see pt. iv. of his recently published 'In Bird Land'), which, owing to his kindness, I am able to reproduce. It will be seen that in one the hen is feeding her young ones, which Mr. Pike observed that she did about every five minutes, distributing a beakful of green caterpillars equally among all. In the other plate Mr. Pike has caught the hen in the act of cleaning out the nest, which she did on about every fourth visit.

The eggs are very peculiar, and at the same time very pretty; white, with specks and wavy lines of brown, with a pink tinge when fresh, and a zone when incubated. They (the first clutch) are