OBSERVATIONS ON SOME HABITS OF THE COOT 63 



On 5th November the remaining adult had departed, and 

 only three immature birds were left. Later on, in November, 

 a male turned up at the pond (whether the one which had 

 gone is, of course, uncertain), and on 26th November this 

 bird showed the expanded frontal plate and excitement 

 peculiar to the spring. 



The foregoing notes are given in some detail, and practi- 

 cally all refer to the 1916 brood. In previous instances, 

 the young departed before assuming the semi-adult dress. 

 In 1913, when nesting took place in March, the young 

 and adults were gone by 5th June, the last (one young 

 and one adult) being seen on 2nd June, the former being 

 in moult to the semi-adult dress. It is perhaps worth 

 mentioning that this stage was reached in about seventy 

 days from the start of incubation, or in forty-four days from 

 the date the downy chicks were first seen, as compared with 

 corresponding periods of about ninety days and sixty-three 

 days in 1916, taking the time, in this second instance, for the 

 most advanced young bird. The margin of error could not 

 be more than five days out or in, and in any case the other 

 broods watched give the longer period on the average, as in 

 1916. Possibly food supply, which would be more abundant 

 in early summer tha*n later, has some influence in this 

 matter. 



The shyness of adults in autumn has been observed on 

 previous occasions in October and November, and it is just 

 possible it may be in consequence of actual or impending 

 moult. In 1916 one of the pair nesting in July first 

 appeared in the end of March and remained, off and on, to 

 the end of May, and was constantly present thereafter. It 

 was therefore under observation from that time until the 

 middle of October, during which period Coot feathers were 

 not seen in the drift on the pond except for a week or two 

 in July when a few contours were noticed, but no more 

 were found after the young were hatched. It seems almost 

 certain, therefore, that this bird must have moulted after 

 its departure. 



The parent birds have been seen to fondle the young, 

 stroking them with the bill and rubbing the head against 



