364 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



The nests are so variously placed that it is difficult 

 sometimes to detect them ; some are found on the over- 

 hanging branches of bushes close to the water on which 

 an accumulation of rubbish is fixed, others among the 

 mass of dead sedges, rushes and iris, and on the banks 

 above the water. 



During the winter they are generally found in pairs. 

 In the summer they remain with their young until the 

 latter are able to fly. 



They are very numerous in all the districts of East 

 Kent, particularly so in the marshes. 



Mr. T. Hepburn says : " Moor-Hens' nests are very 

 numerous in the dykes and pools of water on the marsh- 

 land near Dungeness. In no cases were the eggs in any 

 of the nests that I found covered with leaves." 



Genus FULICA, Brisson. 



COOT. 



Fulica atra, Linnaeus. /S'.iV., i., p. 257 (1766). 



The Coot is far less abundant than the Moor-Hen, 

 although it is thoroughly distributed over Kent, especially 

 in the larger lakes, marshes and estuaries, the numbers 

 being increased from the north during the winter. 



The Lower Medway appears to be a favourite place 

 during severe winters for these birds, where a great 

 many are usually to be found. Several specimens 

 obtained in that locality by Mr. E. J. Balston are 

 now in the Maidstone Museum. It is not exclusively 

 a river bird, but is found far inland, where it breeds 

 on many of the large inland lakes. For instance, it 



