280 BRITISH BIRDS 



with measured steps, nodding its head and jerking its tail in order 

 to display the conspicuous snow-white under-coverts. 



The name of moorhen, which some writers dislike, is old 

 English for marsh-hen, from moorish^ which had the same meaning 

 as marshy. Water-hen, another time-honoured name for this bird, 

 is still in common use ; but mot-hen, or moat-hen, from the bird's 

 habit of frequenting moats when moated houses were common in 

 England, is now obsolete. 



The moorhen swims and dives with ease, and feeds a good deal 

 in the water, usually keeping near the fringe of weeds, in which it 

 takes refuge on the slightest alarm. When hunted it dives, and is 

 able to remain submerged for an indefinite time by grasping the 

 weeds at the bottom with its claws and keeping its nostrils above 

 the surface. 



The nest is generally placed on the ground among the reeds 

 or rushes, but many other sites are used ; and sometimes it 

 is built in a tree several feet above the ground. Seven or eight eggs 

 are laid, reddish white in ground-colour, thinly speckled and spotted 

 with orange-brown. The young when hatched are covered with a 

 black hairy down. Two or three broods are reared in the season, and 

 it has been observed that the yoimg of the first brood sometimes 

 assist the parents in making a new nest and in rearing the yoimg 

 of the second brood. 



The moorhen feeds on worms, slugs, insects of all kinds, and 

 vegetable substances. 



Coot. 



Fulica atra. 



Beak pale flesh-colour ; bald patch on the forehead white ; 

 irides crimson ; imder parts sooty black ; above, slate-grey with a 

 narrow white bar across the wing; legs and feet dark green. 

 Length, eighteen inches. 



In its appearance the coot is a large plain-coloured moorhen. 

 It is more aquatic in its habits than that bird, keeping almost as 

 constantly on the water as a diving duck. Like its smaller re- 

 lation, it prefers stagnant meres or ponds, or sluggish streams 

 with marshy borders and a deep fringe of reeds for cover ; and it is 

 to be met with in all suitable localities throughout the British 

 Islands. It is resident all the year, but in the north, when the 



