COOT. GRALLATORES. FULICA. 195 



some other writers have stated, but walks with steadiness, 

 and can run even swiftly. Like the Gallinule, it often quits 

 its favourite element in the morning and evening, seeking 

 on the land for worms, slugs, seeds, &c., which, with aquatic Food. 

 plants and insects, and the fry of fish, constitute its food ; 

 though, in a state of confinement, it will greedily devour 

 grain and other farinaceous diet. The same disinclination 

 to use its wings is shewn by the Coot, that characterizes the 

 Crakes and Gallinules, and it seldom flies, unless when sud- 

 denly disturbed or pursued, and then only to the nearest 

 place of concealment ; and so low, as to aid its progress by 

 striking the surface of the water with its feet. That it is 

 not, however, incapable of long-continued flight is evident 

 from the migrations it undertakes; and I have more than 

 once seen this bird flying at a considerable elevation, with a 

 very unexpected degree of strength and speed. It breeds 

 amongst the reeds and sedges at the water's edge, and the 

 nest (composed of a large mass of decayed aquatic plants), Nest, &c. 

 sometimes rests upon a tuft of rushes, and at others is sup- 

 ported by the reeds in a floating state, or, where the water 

 is shallow, may have its foundation on the bottom, as de- 

 scribed by the Author of the " British Oology," whose inte- 

 resting account of the nest of the Coot I quote in his own 

 words : " I have had," says he, " an opportunity of examin- 

 ing many of their nests. They are large, and apparently 

 clumsy at first sight, but are amazingly strong and compact : 

 they are sometimes built on a tuft of rushes, but more com- 

 monly amongst reeds ; some are supported by those that lie 

 prostrate on the water, whilst others have their foundations 

 at the bottom, and are raised till they become from six to 

 twelve inches above its surface, sometimes in a depth of one 

 and a half or two feet. So firm are some of them, that, 

 whilst up to the knees in water, they afforded me a seat suf- 

 ficiently strong to support my weight." From the nature of 

 the materials composing the nest, and of the situation in 

 which it is built, it sometimes happens that it is torn from 



