77 



frequent opportunities are offered to the depredations of these animals ; but as 

 these favourable occasions seem to pass unheeded we may fairly conclude that the 

 thievish propensities of which this animal is accused properly belong to another 

 species, and one, possibly, of rarer occurrence. That the eggs and young of 

 water birds are occasionally devoured by some four-footed animals is undeniable ; 

 and I have, probably, erroneously described these and other depredations as apper- 

 taining to the Water Rat, in the British Song Birds. I believe Mr. Blyth is of 

 opinion that the Water Rat never feeds on any animal matter ; and that gentle- 

 man has communicated to me some experiments which certainly go very far to 

 prove his opinion. I hope the doubt and obscurity in which this point is involved 

 will be satisfactorily cleared up in Mr. Bell's beautiful work on British Quadru- 

 peds, now in the course of publication. 



The food of the Coot consists of small fish, and various insects, slugs, &c, 

 which it obtains either on the surface of the water, amongst the weeds at the sides 

 of lakes and ponds, or by diving. I have occasionally seen it struggling for five 

 minutes or more to devour an unusually large fish, but it never desists until its 

 object is accomplished. I never tasted the flesh of this bird, but it is probably 

 fishy and unpalatable ; at all events its smell is by no means inviting. 



The crown of the head and the bill are of an opaque white, and cause the bird 

 to be conspicuous at a very considerable distance. The feathers of the head and 

 neck are of a glossy black ; those of the body dusky brown : in swimming the 

 tail is usually higher than the head. In the neighbourhood of Campsall, seven 

 miles to the north of Doncaster, both the Coot and Gallinule are comparatively 

 rare ; a circumstance for which I have not yet been able to account. 



THE GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea) A SONG BIRD. 



No author with whom I am acquainted makes any mention of the song of this 

 bird, and in the British Song Birds it is stated that, " with regard to vocal 

 powers, the Grey Wagtail has no claims on our attention." In this, however, I 

 have since discovered that I was mistaken, having heard the song, for the first 

 time, about a week ago, in a corn field. The Pied Wagtail is by no means a con- 

 stant songster ; the present species is, undoubtedly, even less so ; and perhaps the 

 Oatears (Budytes) have no song at all. The notes of this bird are pleasing, but 

 cursory, and much resemble those of the Pied Wagtail. 



N. W. 



July 24, 1836. 



