CHAPTER EIGHTEEN SPRING BIRDS 



showing only the very tip of their bill, which I could distin- 

 guish bythesmallwavein thewater madewhen it first came 

 up. After remaining in this position for a short time, they 

 gradually lifted up more and more of their head, till seeing 

 that all dangerwas over andthatthe dog had left theirpool, 

 they rose entirely to the surface, and shaking their feathers 

 resumed their usual attitudes, keeping, however, at a re- 

 spectful distance and watching the dog. After the young 

 ones were hatched and full grown they again disappeared, 

 leaving us for the winter. How or where they went it is dif- 

 ficult to imagine. 



If the weather is tolerably open, the bald coot arrives 

 here early in the spring. It is verydifficult to make this bird 

 fly, unless it happens to be surprised in the open part of the 

 lake, when it darts off immediately to the rushes, where, 

 diving and wadingwith great quickness, it remains so com- 

 pletely concealed that neither dog nor man can put it up 

 again. Its young ones are like a ball of black down, but swim 

 about and dive as cleverly as their parents. They build a 

 very large nest amongst the rushes growing in the water, 

 and sit very close. The coot has an ornamental appearance 

 on a sheet of water, from their constant activity In swimming 

 about, and their loud, wild cry adds an interest to the soli- 

 tude of the Highland lake. 



The water-hen is another bird which deserves encour- 

 agement and protection, as they repay it by becoming tame 

 and familiar, leaving the water to feed with the poultry, and 

 walking aboutall day on thegrass, with an air of the greatest 

 confidence and sociability. I know nothing prettier than the 

 young ones,as they follow their parents In their active search 

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