COMMON COOT. 41 



and if the skin be taken off, the bird becomes dry, and good 

 for nothing. A Coot shot in the morning, just after roosting, 

 is worth three killed in the day when full of grass, because 

 he will then be whiter, and milder in flavour. A Poole man 

 is very particular about this, as the sale of his Coots much 

 depends on it." 



The Coot, as observed by Sir William Jardine and Mr. 

 Selby, is a summer visiter to Scotland. Dr. Neill and Mr. 

 Dunn mention it as visiting occasionally the lochs of some of 

 the islands of Orkney. It is fovmd during summer on the 

 coasts of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, going as far as the 

 Faroe Islands, and even to Iceland, as noticed by Faber and 

 other authorities, but not farther to the west ; the Coot of 

 North America and the United States is now known to be 

 a different species. Our Coot is found in Russia and the 

 eastern parts of Siberia, according to Pennant. It is very 

 abundant in Holland, and on the lakes and rivers of Ger- 

 many, France, Switzerland, Spain, Provence, and Italy. Dr. 

 Heineken includes the Coot among the Birds of Madeira. 

 Mr. Strickland saw it at Smyrna ; the Zoological Society 

 have received specimens from Trcbizond ; and the Coot of 

 India, China, Japan, and the island of Sunda, is said to be 

 identical with the Coot of Europe. 



The beak is of a pale rose-red, or flesh colour ; the patch 

 on the forehead naked, and pure white ; hence the name of 

 Bald Coot : the iridcs crimson ; below the eye a small half- 

 circular streak of white ; the whole of the plumage above and 

 below sooty black, tinged with dark slate-grey ; the head 

 rather darker than the body ; primaries nearly pure black ; 

 secondaries tipped with white, forming a line or narrow bar 

 across the Aving ; legs, toes, and membranes dark green, the 

 garter above the tarsal joint orange. 



The whole length sixteen inches. From the carpal joint 

 to the end of the wing about eight inches. 



Adult birds from their more decided dark colour have been 



