COOT. 99 
down. They are very powerful and strong on the wing, though 
they seem to dislike getting up, and are at times seen at a 
considerable height, and make extended migrations. In flight 
_ they carry the legs stretched out behind them. If alarmed 
to get up from the water, they scurry and flap along, the 
head and neck straight out, and their feet pattering upon 
. the surface, and a large number together make a very con- 
siderable noise. They move about on dry land actively and 
well, and are said to be able to perch on trees, but prefer 
to keep, which they mostly do, on the other element. 
‘When the bird is by chance seen to walk on the ground,’ 
says Meyer, ‘its appearance is not very elegant, owing to the 
formation and backward position of the legs, and the attitude 
it necessarily requires to keeps its balance, which is by 
carrying its breast high, back arched, and tail lowered.’ They 
are said to make use of their feet as weapons of defence, if 
attacked at close quarters. They roost at night either on a 
congeries of rushes in the middle of a piece of water, at a 
small distance from the land, or ascend some height or mount 
into a tree, which they do with ease and readiness. 
They will readily feed on grass if other food be scarce; 
grain they devour with avidity. Small fish, aquatic insects, 
and water-plants form their ordinary supplies; and they also 
pick the buds, blossoms, and seeds of different plants, and 
corn, too, when seeking food at night on the land. In the 
early part of the year, when the plants that have their roots 
below the water have not as yet reached the surface, these 
birds, acting on the principle that “f the mountain will not 
come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain,’ are 
in the habit of frequentiy diving to procure them, where they 
only then can be procured. They remain a considerable time 
under water in search of food. 
The call is only a harsh wild ‘crew,’ or ‘kew’ uttered either 
singly or several times in succession. This is the similitude 
of it as given by Meyer; but it is rarely indeed that the 
note of any bird can be properly expressed in the syllabic 
form. The young keep up a constant noise, unless any one 
approach, when they instantly become still. 
The nest, not unfrequently deferred to be made until May, 
is a large structure, and, though of rough workmanship, very 
strong in its composition, so as to keep the eggs dry, albeit 
in such close proximity to water. It is built by the edges 
of islands, in, or by the borders of lakes, ponds, and rivers, 
