608 THE RAILS 



or hawk, close their ranks, and, as it swoops down into their midst, 

 will throw up with their feet (Lilford), with their wings (Browne), 

 such a sheet of water that it is baffled and sometimes drenched. 

 Lord Lilford, who saw this done several times as a defence against 

 the whitetailed-eagle, on lakes in Epirus, states that on one occasion 

 the eagle was so drenched that it was with difficulty it reached a 

 tree on the shore not more than a hundred yards from the spot. 1 

 According to Sir T. Browne, the birds driven off in this way were the 

 kite and buzzard. 2 Whether all species of the Falconidce are treated 

 in the same way, and what determines, on any particular occasion, the 

 coot's choice of this method of escape in preference to diving, have 

 yet to be ascertained. 



Coots and their young also suffer no doubt considerably from 

 four-footed enemies foxes, stoats, rats, and the like. Their eggs are 

 robbed by crows and by the marsh-harrier. 3 



Two habits of the coot that have as yet received but little attention 

 remain to be noted. The first are their nocturnal activities. Under 

 this head may be placed their night-flights and feeding, and also the 

 following curious fact, which gives us just one tantalising glimpse into 

 that unknown life of the coot which systematic investigation will one 

 day reveal. One 23rd of January, on a clear moonlight night, between 

 12 and 1 o 'clock, a large black object was seen moving through the 

 water of a lake at no great speed and in various directions. Its 

 movements were accompanied by a good deal of splashing about the 

 tail and flanks. On closer approach the aquatic monster resolved 

 itself into a serried band of coots. On being alarmed, they dispersed. 

 When left, they again closed their ranks and proceeded as before. 

 What was the meaning of these proceedings it is impossible to say. 4 



The second has reference not to their nocturnal activity but 



1 Lilford, Birds of Northants, i. 344. 



2 Quoted in Stevenson's Birds of Norfolk, ii. 425. "Buzzard" probably means "moor- 

 buzzard," i.e. marsh-harrier. See Montagu, British Birds article, "Moor-Buzzard" (Falco 

 ceruginosus). 



3 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, vii. 136. 



4 Zoologist, 1883, p. 127 (H. W. Campbell). 



