A PLUCKY WATER-HEN.
(To THE EDITOR Of THE " SPECTATOR.")
Sta,—The other day while fishing on a river in the South-West of Scotland, I saw a seagull suddenly swoop to the surface among some yellow water-lily leaves and seize a 3oung water-hen
in its beak. It succeeded, unfortunately, in- getting away with it, notwithstanding a most plucky and violent attack by the gallant mother, who for a moment seemed almost to have got hold of the marauder by the tail. She followed the gull at a rapid pace along the surface until the latter rose out of reach. How I longed for a gun at that moment instead of a fishing-rod! The gull was back presently for another, and I saw a second tiny ball of fluff in imminent danger, but by this time my presence on the bank directly opposite acted as a deterrent, and the gull flew off. A strange restlessness, how- ever, continued among the brood, accompanied by an unusual squeaking, which I at first attributed to a wail of grief, till presently I espied a stoat disappearing from the vicinity. Hence their seeming recklessness in not taking cover from the
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