34 



THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



larger rivers in fact, it abounds wherever there is water 

 favourable to it. It is a conspicuous object, with its dark 

 plumage and white forehead. 



Colonel Hawker says : " All wild fowl seek the company 

 of coots, because these birds are such good sentries to give 

 the alarm by day, when the fowl generally sleep." Drayton, 

 in the " Owl," says : 



" The brain-bald coot, a formal, witless ass." 



Skelton, in his elegy to the death of Philip Sparrow, 

 says : 



" And also the mad coote, 

 With a bald face to toote (pry)." 



Hence the sayings, " As mad as a coot," " As bald as a coot." 



THE COOT. 



Why Skelton should call this bird mad, and Drayton a 

 witless ass, is strange, as it is one of the most wary of 

 birds, and is the first to give warning to all its feathered 

 friends by its call-note, Ko-ko, oft repeated. Coots are 

 splendid divers, and should there be any noise or strange 

 appearance to which they are unaccustomed, they will 

 instantly dive, and the surface of the water, a moment 



