The Congregation of Birds 



some dainty being an obvious invitation which 



is likely to be abused by the unscrupulous 



guests. But there are kites to be reckoned 



with, as the crow knows, and it is better, no 



doubt, from his point of view, to lose part of 



one's dinner to a friend than the whole to an 



enemy. 



The value which birds set on a good watch 



is well illustrated by their fondness for the 



company of species which can be relied on to 



give them the alarm. Colonel Hawker recom- 



mends the encouragement of coots to any one 



who desires wildfowl on his piece of water, 



because duck always affect the company of 



these birds, for a very obvious reason. Sir 



Mallard, after a "night out," naturally returns 



in the morning with a conviction that his head 



is best under his wing, and is only too glad 



to be able to rely on the watchfulness of the 



coot, who has been respectably asleep all night, 



and is going about his daily business with all 



his senses on the alert. I can quite confirm 



the Colonel's opinion as to the popularity of 



coots from my own experience. I kept at 



different times several of these birds on the 



museum tank in Calcutta, and always found 



that they agreed excellently with the ducks, 



and were looked upon with a decidedly friendly 



eye even by the cheeky little dabchicks. The 



203 



