THE COOT 599 



THE COOT 

 [F. B. KIRKMAN] 



The genus Fulica, to which our coot belongs, is cosmopolitan hi its 

 range, and contains a dozen or more species, of which the majority 

 are found in South America. The most noticeable difference between 

 these species and the other rails are the lobed front toes. (See 

 Fig. p. 600.) What there is in the history or the present habits of the 

 Coots to account for their having lobed toes in preference to the long 

 thin toes or the toes with continuous membranous margins of the rest 

 of the Family is still, and likely for long to remain, a mystery. That 

 the Coots have gained any advantage over their fellow genera by this 

 structural peculiarity is not evident, as far at least as ability to swim 

 or run is concerned. 



The shield that the coot bears on its forehead, and which has 

 earned for it the name of bald-coot, is a feature that it shares with 

 other members of the Family, including the waterhen. In the case 

 of the coot the shield is, however, more conspicuous owing to the fact 

 that it is white. In the case of most species it is red, but green, 

 yellow, blue, and brown are also found. The use of the shield is 

 not known. 



The coot differs from the waterhen in showing a marked 

 preference for the larger sheets of water, broads, lakes, and pools, 

 provided always they are margined with good cover of rushes and the 

 like, but they also frequent ponds, and one pair was found by Liebe 

 nesting in a ditch near the railway station at Gera, in Germany. 1 

 Where not interfered with they show little fear of man, and may be 

 found near human habitations, but they are far from being as familiar 

 as the waterhen. Nor are they as often seen on land as the latter, 

 though they both walk and run with ease. Mr. O. V. Aplin records 



1 Naumaun, Vogel Mitteleuropas, vii. 127. 



