III. THE DABCHICKS. I 5 5 



and ^he coot : this latter being the largest of 

 the fringefoots, singularly dark in colour, and 

 called ' fulica ' (sooty), or, with insistance, 

 * fulica ^tra ' (black sooty), or even ' fulica 

 aterrima ' (blackest sooty). * Coot ' is said by 

 Johnson to be Dutch ; and that it became 

 ' cotee ' in French ; but I cannot find cotee 

 in my French dictionary. In the meantime, 

 puttrng the coot and water-hen aside for future 

 better knowledge, we may be content with the 

 pentagonal group of our dabchicks — passing 

 at each angle into another tribe, thus, — (if 

 people must classify, they at least should also 

 viaf). Take the Ouzel, Allegret, Grebe, Fairy, 

 and Rail, and, only giving the Fairy her Latin 

 name, write their fourpenny-worth of initial 

 letters (groat) roimd a pentagon set on its 

 base, putting the Ouzel at the top angle, — so. 



Ouzel. 



Rail. C R ■'^ / Allegret. 



Grebe. Titania. 



