THE HAUNTS OF COOT AND HERON 89 



long rope-like stems on which the leaves rise from 

 the deep bottom will entangle and drown the strong- 

 est swimmer. 



Motionless and without a sound as we stand, the 

 knowledge of our presence appears to have travelled 

 mysteriously on every side. All wild nature has 

 an instinctive knowledge of the proximity of man. 

 An air of suspicion and caution seems to spread all 

 round ; the ear strains after faint rustlings and 

 plashings, which it fails to distinguish. Hark ! a 

 peculiar note breaks the silence. It comes from the 

 open water in front. It can be compared to nothing 

 else than the sound caused by dragging a jagged 

 piece of metal over a slate. It comes closer in, till 

 at last the outline of a bird, smaller in size than a 

 full grown duck, can be distinguished through the 

 reeds. It turns its face towards us now a face 

 perfectly white as seen against the deep black plum- 

 age of the rest of the bird. We do not move, and 

 the creature presently works itself into a royal rage ; 

 it sails up and down furiously, even stopping at 

 times to stamp in the water with its feet, like a child 

 in a passion. Foolish creature ! only a bird with 

 a long line of inedible ancestors like the common 

 coot would venture into such tantrums in the pre- 

 sence of the lord of creation ; even a tyro with a 

 gun could not miss it now. But you remember 

 that it is the breeding season, and many and strange 

 are the instincts with which Nature has endowed 

 her creatures at this time. 



Here in deep water amongst the sedge is the cause 

 of all these angry passions. It is a curious structure 

 to look at, but, when the adaptations of means to 

 an end are considered, one which must exact admira- 



