THE COMMON COOT 233 



adds that of perching on trees ; this it does habitually, as it roosts 

 in low bushy trees ; and it has besides the power of walking cleverly 

 along the branches. 



In the neighbourhood of houses where it has long been undis- 

 turbed, it loses much of its shy nature, and will not only allow 

 itself to be approached within a short distance, but, becoming 

 half-domesticated, will consort with the poultry in the farm-yard, 

 and come with them to be fed. It is fond also of visiting the 

 kitchen-garden, where it is apt to make itself unwelcome, by help- 

 ing itself to' the tenderest and best of the vegetables. Bishop 

 Stanley, in his entertaining Book on Birds, gives some highly 

 amusing anecdotes of the Gallinule. 



It builds its nest on the stump of a tree, or in a bush among 

 wet places, or in the roots of alders, but often it is placed on the 

 low-lying branch of a tree overhanging the water. The nest is 

 a large structure, made of rushes and dry flags, and is easy of 

 detection. It is very liable, too, to be swept away by any sudden 

 rise in a river. Added to which, the young frequently fall a prey 

 to pike. But as the bird has two, and sometimes three, broods 

 in a year, each consisting of from six to eight, it remains undimin- 

 ished in numbers. The nest is sometimes placed in a tree at a 

 distance from the water. When this is the case, as the habits of 

 the young birds are aquatic, immediately on their breaking the 

 egg, the old birds convey them in their claws to the water. An 

 instance is recorded in the Zoologist of a female Gallinule being 

 seen thus employed carrying a young one in each foot ; it has been 

 observed, too, that in such cases the male bird builds a second 

 nest, near the water's edge, to which the young retire for shelter 

 during the night, until they are sufficiently fledged to accompany 

 their parents to their ordinary roosting-places in trees. 



THE COMMON COOT 



FULICA ATRA 



Upper plumage black, tinged on the back with grey ; under parts bluish grey ; 

 frontal disk large, pure white ; bill white, tinged with rose-red ; irides 

 crimson ; feet grey, tinged with green ; part of the tibia orange-yellow. 

 Length sixteen inches. Eggs brownish, speckled with reddish brown. 



The Coot, seen from a distance, either on land or water, might be 

 mistaken for a Gallinule, flirting up its tail when it swims, jerking 

 its head to and fro, and when on land strutting about with a pre- 

 cisely similar movement of all its members. On a nearer examin- 

 ation, it is clearly distinguished by its larger size and the white 

 bare spot above the bill, in front, from which it is often called 

 the Bald-headed Coot. It is only during the summer season that 

 the two birds can be compared ; for while the Gallinule remains 



