THE COOT 79 



out its uniform black colour and conspicuous white 

 bill." The difficulty which the coot experiences in 

 rising from the water is another easy way of identifying 

 it. Ducks rise elegantly and easily ; the coot plunges 

 and splashes and beats the water so vigorously with 

 wings and feet that it appears to run along the surface 

 for a few yards before it succeeds in maintaining itself 

 in the air. But, when fairly started, it moves at a great 

 pace, so that, as regards flight, it may well say, even at 

 the risk of perpetrating a pun, II n'y a que le premier 

 fas qui conte. During the efforts preliminary to flight 

 the bird presents a very easy mark ; hence its popu- 

 larity among inexperienced sportsmen. Now, since 

 the coot is, to use a racing term, so indifferent a starter, 

 raptorial birds must find it a quarry particularly easy 

 to catch. Therefore, according to the rules of the 

 game of natural selection, as drawn up by the learned 

 brotherhood of zoologists, the coot ought to be as 

 difficult to see as a thief in the night, and should spend 

 its life skulking among rushes, in order to escape its 

 foes. As a matter of fact it is as conspicuous as a 

 Hfeguardsman in full uniform, and, so far from having 

 the habits of a skulker, it seems to take a positive 

 delight in exposing itself, for, as Jerdon says, " It is 

 often seen in the middle of some large tank far away 

 from weeds or cover." 



Someone has suggested that the coot is an example 

 of warning colouration, that it is unpalatable to birds 

 of prey, and that its black livery and white face are 

 nature's equivalent to the druggist's label bearing the 

 legend ** Poison." Unfortunately for this suggestion, 



