62 COOT 



One of the birds appears to remain on the site of the nest, 

 while the other brings the flags, &c. which compose it. 



Bishop Stanley writes thus on the subject of this part 

 of the natural history of these birds : " They, too, build 

 a simple rushy nest, but with this difference, that instead 

 of seeking to raise it above the water, they seem to prefer 

 it floating upon the very surface, where, of course, it is 

 exposed to the double danger of being carried hither and 

 thither according as the wind blows, or if interwoven with 

 reeds or rushes close to the water, of being covered, should 

 the waters be raised by floods. But the Coot is apparently 

 well aware of these possibilities, and accordingly guards 

 against them, preventing the nests being carried away, by 

 ingeniously fastening the materials of which they are made, 

 to the rushes or osiers near them ; but at the same time, 

 these fastenings are of such a nature, as to allow of the 

 nests rising with the water, so that no ordinary flood 

 would expose them to the danger of immersion. The 

 Coot, like the Water- Hen, covers her nest, and, if not so 

 effectually, yet with a most extraordinary rapidity. We 

 have repeatedly watched a Coot quietly sitting on her 

 nest ; if the boat approaches, she rises, and immediately 

 begins pecking away right and left, which she continues 

 to do until the enemy is so near that she is compelled to 

 decamp for her own preservation. In this short time, 

 however, she almost always contrives to cover her eggs ; 

 and though the nest itself remains a very conspicuous 

 object, a careless observer might pass it as deserted and 

 empty." Quarrels arise among different birds sometimes 

 at the spring of the year, for the choice of a situation. 



The eggs are from seven to ten or even more in 

 number, of a light stone-colour, spotted with small rust- 



