COOT. 333 



utters an explosive tizz, a regular splutter. The hunger-cry of 

 the young is a wheezy squeal — gueep^ and the nestling has a 

 faint whispering pipe. The Coot flies at night, but is less 

 noisy than the Moorhen. In April one alighted on a green- 

 house, probably mistaking it for water, and in February one 

 dropped in a town back-yard ; both these may have been 

 migrants or the night flight have had nuptial significance. 

 One, when I handled it, made repeated vicious dabs at my 

 eyes. 



The nest (Plate 146), a large structure of flags, reeds sedge, 

 and rarely, twigs, is built in aquatic vegetation, but is seldom 

 actually floating. If the water rises additions are made until 

 a big stack remains when the water subsides. I have seen it 

 built of green sedge, when the stone-grey, black-speckled eggs 

 (Plate 148) were plainly visible, but when old reed-blades, 

 speckled with fungoid growth, are used, the result is very 

 different. I have once seen the eggs partially covered, but the 

 habit is not general. The eggs number from six to ten as a 

 rule, and are laid late in April or in May. The head colour 

 of the nestling in its early days is more vivid than that of the 

 juvenile Moorhen. The bill is black at the extreme tip, the 

 rest dead white shading to vermilion at the base and on 

 the plate ; round the'bill the down is bright red, the sides of the 

 face are orange, the crown is livid blue or ultramarine, and the 

 nape may be orange, flame, or black, like the rest of the hairy 

 down. Young birds I have examined showed much variation 

 in the areas covered, but red, orange, and blue were always 

 present. The remainder of the down is sooty with hoary 

 filaments, and the legs are dull slate. One just out of the egg 

 fell into the water and swam at once. 



The mature bird has a slight wing bar, the rest of the plumage 

 different depths of slate-grey, but velvet-black on the head and 

 neck. The bill and frontal plate are white, faintly tinged with 

 pink ; the legs are olive-green, and the irides crimson. The 



