0( &ntmatetr 



147 



These moles do not make such hills as the 

 European ones, but only little subterraneous 

 walks in the fields, forming banks about four 

 inches broad by two inches thick, and which 

 sink in when trod upon. 



CONGER. [See EEL.] 



CONIROSTRES. This term is used to 

 denote those Birds which have a strong co- 

 nical bill, the margin of which is not toothed 

 or indented. The greater part of these are 

 omnivorous ; but some are exclusively gra- 

 nivorous. Cuvier observes that they live 

 more or less exclusively upon seeds, in pro- 

 portion as their bill is more or less thick. 

 Crows, Starlings, and Finches are examples 

 of this class. 



CONUS. An extensive genus of univalve 

 Mollusca, the shells of which are thick, 



SHELL AND ANIMAL OF TUB COS OS 

 BAND AN CIS 



and rolled up, as it were, in a conical form. 

 They are found principally in the southern 

 and tropical seas ; and many of them are 

 very beautiful both in shape and colour. 

 The mollusc is much compressed and in- 

 volved ; the head very distinct, terminated 

 by a trunk capable of great extension ; two 

 tentacula, with eyes near the summit 5 foot 

 oval, and long. 



Some of the species, such as the Conus 

 gloria marts, for example, have fetched 

 enormous prices. The cones are very hand- 

 some in shape and agreeable in colour, and 

 are consequently much prized by collectors. 

 The accompanying figures will give some 

 idea-of their forms. In the British Museum 

 there is a very fine collection of them. The 

 Messrs. Sowerby have monographed the 

 genus and figured all the species. 



CONILITES. A genus of fossil Cepha- 

 lopoda, conical, straight, or slightly curved ; 

 having a thin external covering, independent 

 of the alveole. The difference between Be- 

 lemnites and Conilites, is that the external 

 sheath of the latter is thin, and not filled up 

 with solid matter, from the point of the al- 

 veole to the apex, as in the fonner. 



COOT. A genus of birds of the order 

 Grallatores. They are distinguished from all 

 other birds by the remarkable structure of 

 the membranes on the toes : the inner toe is 

 furnished with two of these appendages, or 

 rather scallops, the middle one with three, 

 and the outer with four ; the hinder toe has a 

 simple membrane only, extending its whole 

 length. They are met with in various parts 

 of Europe, Asia, and America : they delight 

 in marshy and wet places, hiding them- 

 selves during the day, and venturing forth 

 in the evening in search of food, which con- 

 sists of insects and aquatic vegetables. The 

 COMMON COOT (FuHca atra) is about six- 

 teen inches in length : its beak is white, 

 slightly tinged with rose-colour ; the head 

 and neck deep black ; the upper parts of the 

 plumage of a slaty black, and all the under 

 parts of a greyish-blue or lead-colour. The 

 skin is clothed with a thick down, and co- 

 vered with close fine feathers : thighs placed 

 far behind, fleshy, and strong, bare, and yel- 

 low above the "knee-joints : legs and toes 

 commonly of a yellowish-green, but some- 

 times of a lead-colour. From the bill, al- \ 

 most to the crown of the head, there is an 

 excrescence, or fleshy lobe, destitute of fea- 

 thers, soft, smooth, and round 5 on which 

 account this bird is sometimes called the 

 bald Coot. This speoies is common in many 

 parts of England, particularly in the South- 

 ampton river, and in the Isle of Sheppey ; 

 and it is generally believed that it does not j 

 migrate to other countries, but changes its 

 stations, and removes in the autumn from j 

 ponds and small lakes, where the young j 

 have been reared, to the larger lakes, where j 

 flocks assemble in the winter. It is usual | 

 for them to build their nests in a bush of j 

 rushes, surrounded by the water : it is com- 

 posed of a great quantity of coarse dried 

 weeds, well matted together, and lined with- 

 in with softer and finer grasses : the female 



lays from twelve to fifteen eggs, and gene- 

 eggs are 

 about the size of those of a pullet, and are of 



ay 

 rall 



y hatches twice in a season ; the e 



a pale brownish-white, sprinkled with nu- 

 merous dark spots, which at the thicker end 

 are like large irregular blotches. A variety, 

 excelling the other in size and the deeper 

 blackness of its plumage, is found in Scot- 

 land ; also in Lancashire and some of the 

 adjacent counties. 



Another species, called WILSON'S COOT 

 (Fvlica Wilsani), inhabit various parts of 

 North America, and make their appearance 

 in Pennsylvania in the beginning of October 

 among the muddy flats and islands of the 

 river Delaware, which are overgrown with 

 reeds and rushes, and are periodically over- 

 flowed. The chief distinctions between this 

 species and the Common Coot consist in the 

 callous knob on the forehead being of a 

 deep chestnut : the feathers of the vent are 

 quite black, and the under tail-coverts white ; 

 and there are a few white feathers on the 

 upper edge of the wing. There is also a 

 very singular species inhabiting Madagascar, 

 called the CRESTED COOT (Fulica cristatn). \ 

 It measures eighteen inches in length ; its 

 bill is red at the base, and whitish towards 

 the tip ; the crown of the head is bare, of a j 



O 2 



