THE COOT 607 



beings or dogs, the coot merely paddles into cover, usually a reed-bed. 

 If surprised at some distance from cover, it often seeks to reach it by 

 flight, and a somewhat laborious process this appears to be, judging 

 from the time the bird takes to get clear of the water. It literally 

 runs several yards along the surface, striking it with its feet alter- 

 nately, and at the same time flapping its wings. Once clear, it flies 

 straight and fairly strong, the feet tucked flat under the tail. These 

 are stretched down as the bird descends to alight, and, before 

 breasting the water, it runs once more a few steps along the surface, 

 in which it differs markedly from the duck tribe. If pressed, the 

 coot seeks escape by diving, and, like the waterhen, will keep itself 

 submerged by clinging to water-weeds with its feet, leaving above the 

 surface no more of its body than it can avoid exposing, except so much 

 of the head as will permit it to breathe. This device is also practised 

 at a very early age by the chicks, 1 and no doubt it often saves them 

 from their bird or mammal enemies. 



Retreat to cover is no doubt also the coot's usual and best means 

 of escape from Hawks. Only when it has no time to do this does it 

 adopt other means, of which the most usual is to dive, rise only when 

 necessary to breathe, dive again, and continue doing so till danger 

 has passed. The device has in it this inherent defect that the bird, 

 if compelled to go on diving by the continued presence of the enemy, 

 becomes at last exhausted, for it apparently makes no attempt 

 to swim to shore under water. Both the marsh-harrier and the 

 whitetailed sea-eagle have been seen to profit by the same. 2 They 

 have only to bide their time and then finally to swoop upon their 

 victim before it can summon strength to make another plunge. A 

 more effective device is one which was noted in the first place by 

 Sir T. Browne, and later by Lord Lilford, and which is of remarkable 

 interest to the student of animal intelligence. When a number 

 of coot are together, they will on the approach of the enemy, eagle 



I Stevenson, Birds of Norfolk, ii. 428, quoting Bishop Stanley ; Macpherson, Fauna of 

 Lakeland, p. 345. 



II Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 244; Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, vii. 135. 



