YELLOW-BILLED COOT Vt 
largest numbers. The colour of the beak and shield 
is of a very delicate yellow; the legs and feet dull 
green; the head, neck, and part of the back velvet- 
black ; all the rest of the plumage dark slate-colour, 
except the under-coverts of the tail, which are white 
and render the bird very conspicuous when it is 
swimming away with the tail raised vertically. 
On the pampas, in large marshy lagoons, this 
Coot is sometimes seen in immense numbers ; 
thousands of birds uniting in one flock, and spreading 
over the low shores to feed, they look like a great 
concourse of Rooks. But they are exceedingly timid, 
and at the sight of a bird of prey or other enemy they 
all scuttle back to the water, tumbling over each 
other in their haste to reach it. They rise in a peculiar 
manner, rapidly striking the surface of the water 
with their great lobed feet, often for a distance of 
twenty or thirty yards before they are fully launched 
in the air. They are loquacious birds, and when 
swimming about concealed among the thick rushes 
are heard answering each other in a variety of curious 
tones, some of their loud, hollow-sounding, reiterated 
cries resembling peals of laughter. 
The nest is a slovenly structure of rushes lying 
on the water, with a very slight depression for the 
eggs, which are ten or twelve in number. These are 
long, pointed at one end, dull cream-colour, marked 
over the whole surface with small blackish and purple 
spots. 
There are two other species of Coots in Argentina : 
the Red-gartered Coot, F. armillata, the largest 
