THE COOT 603 



a solid rude structure of sticks built on the edge of a small tree- 

 covered island on Scoulton Mere, and quite exposed. Building was 

 still proceeding as late as April 10th, on which date I saw one of the 

 pair stamping in the material firmly with alternate movements of its 

 feet. It then went off to return with a long twig, which it dropped on 

 the nest. During another of its absences a waterhen appeared and 

 climbed on to the nest, but beat a rapid retreat on seeing the coot 

 come round the corner. This waterhen seemed to cause the coots 

 considerable annoyance, for it persisted in lurking about in the neigh- 

 bourhood of their nest with apparently felonious intent, and had to 

 be chased away periodically. On more than one occasion I saw the 

 hen coot standing on the nest with her head bent down in a curiously 

 stiff manner, and saw as well as heard her snapping her mandibles, 

 a sign of irritation, caused, I found, by her knowledge that near by in 

 the shadows was this ever-lurking waterhen. 



The use of sticks and twigs for the nest, instead of the usual 

 water-plants, was due probably to the abundance of the former and 

 comparative scarcity of the latter at this particular spot. Both sexes 

 shared in the building, but to what extent I did not ascertain. 1 



The eggs are usually laid and hatched in May, and both parents 

 share in incubation. The black down-covered chicks have for the first 

 few days remarkable bright-coloured orange-yellow and vermilion warts 

 and filaments about the head. The meaning of these is not known. 



The chicks quit the nest almost as soon as hatched, if disturbed, 

 and they return to it, facts sufficiently proved by Miss Turner's obser- 

 vations. 2 As the family remains in the circumscribed nesting-area till 

 the end of the breeding season, there cannot be much doubt that 

 the nest continues to be used as a resting and roosting-place, the more 

 so as the coot does not appear, at least to the same extent, to imitate 

 the waterhen in building supplementary nests. As it only rears one 

 brood, such nests may not be so necessary. 



1 For description of usual nest-site and material, see " Classified Notes." 

 1 Home Life of Marsh-Birds, pp. 12, 14, 18. 



