io8 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



It may be that certain notes of communication are specially 

 adapted to certain surroundings, for in the language of 

 the air we find something which almost suggests a definite 

 principle. Thus birds of the great distances, such as 

 the waders, have shrill, penetrating voices, which enable 

 each bird to communicate with its fellows over vast 

 stretches of moorland or seashore ; the birds which 

 travel little, living the major portion of their lives in 

 dense rushes, etc., have reed-like, frog-like call-notes ; 

 the birds of the night, or at any rate many of them, have 

 deep, hollow voices, like the owl and the bittern. 



The coot and the moorhen are by far the most familiar 

 of our aquatic birds, and they are of special value in that 

 both of them have many interesting ways, which can 

 easily be observed by the bird lover who has few oppor- 

 tunities of studying rarer fowl. The coot is a much 

 larger bird than the moorhen or waterhen, and is distinct 

 therefrom by the naked patch above its beak — hence 

 the familiar saying ** bald as a coot." It is more essentially 

 aquatic than the moorhen ; indeed, while the last named 

 obtains most of its food on land adjacent to its home 

 pond, the coot feeds almost entirely while swimming 

 about, and is comparatively rarely seen obtaining a meal 

 on dry land. I have, at times, seen large numbers of 

 coots feeding like blackgame at the water's edge, but 

 whereas it is customary to see the moorhen feeding thus, 

 and the exception to see it feeding on the water, it is 

 customary to see the coot feeding on the water and almost 

 the exception to observe it on dry land. While, therefore, 

 the coot can be described as essentially a water bird, 

 the moorhen is really a land bird which loves to have 

 water at hand. 



This essential difference naturally influences their 

 respective choices of environment, for whereas moorhens 

 are to be found everywhere that coots exist, it does not 



