128 LOBIPEDID^E. 



this diversion. When on the coast, you may easily distin- 

 guish Coots from wild-fowl by the scattered extent of their 

 line, their high rumps, their rapid swimming, and their 

 heads being poked more forward. 



" They are generally sold for eighteen pence a couple, 

 previously to which they are what is call cleaned. The 

 recipe for this is, after picking them, to take off all the 

 black down, by means of powdered resin and boiling 

 water, and then to let them soak all night in cold spring 

 water ; by which they are made to look as white and 

 as delicate as a chicken, and to eat tolerably well ; but, 

 without this process, the skin in roasting produces a sort of 

 oil, with a fishy taste and smell ; and if the skin be taken 

 off, the bird becomes dry, and good for nothing. A Coot 

 shot in the morning, just after roosting, is worth three 

 killed in the day when full of grass, because he will then 

 be whiter, and milder in flavour. A Poole man is very 

 particular about this, as the sale of his Coots much 

 depends on it." 



The Coot, as observed by Sir William Jardine and Mr. 

 Selby, is a summer visiter to Scotland. Dr. Neill and Mr. 

 Dunn mention it as visiting occasionally the lochs of some 

 of the islands of Orkney. It is found during summer on 

 the coasts of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, going as far 

 as the Faroe Islands, and even to Iceland, as noticed by 

 Faber and other authorities, but not farther to the west ; 

 the Coot of North America and the United States is 

 now known to be a different species. Our Coot is found in 

 Russia and the eastern parts of Siberia, according to Pen- 

 nant. It is very abundant in Holland, and on the lakes 

 and rivers of Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Pro- 

 vence, and Italy. Dr. Heineken includes the Coot among 

 the Birds of Madeira. It is found in Sicily, at Malta, 



