RALLID.E. 



519 



THE COOT. 



FULICA ATRA, LinilffiUS. 



The Coot is found upon most of the large ponds, lakes and 

 sluggish rivers throughout the British Islands. In East Anglia, 

 owing to successive drainage of its breeding-haunts, it is less plenti- 

 ful than it formerly was, but it is still abundant on the Broads ; 

 also on Slapton Ley in Devon, where large numbers are killed 

 at the annual battues ; on Southampton Water ; and in Poole 

 Harbour and other parts of Dorsetshire ; while on the Nene, in 

 Northamptonshire, it appears to have increased. As a rule it is 

 resident, remaining throughout the winter even in the Hebrides and 

 Orkneys ; though chiefly a summer-visitor to the Shetlands. When 

 the inland waters are closed by frost it migrates to tidal estuaries 

 and the sea-coast. 



This species is a tolerably regular visitor to the Faeroes, and 

 wanders to the south-west of Iceland, while a solitary example has 

 even reached Greenland. On the coast of Norway, under the 

 influence of the Gulf Stream, the Coot has been found up to 

 lat. 70° N. ; while it nests in the southern districts of that country 

 and of Sweden, as well as along the shores of the Baltic, as far as 



