Anglesey 



with the same nodding motion ; but, whilst the 

 moorhen feeds principally on shore, the coot seldom 

 lands, except to stand clumsily at the water's edge, 

 and preen its sooty feathers. All day long he sails 

 about the reed-beds, diving frequently to tear up 

 the tenderer shoots from below ; now calling aloud 

 " Howk ! howk ! " now rising heavily to chase a 

 fellow coot, the hollow wings beating violently as 

 he flies low to the water, and the dangling feet 

 striking its surface, until he flings himself into it 

 again with an awkward splash. The nest, like that 

 of the moorhen, is a large accumulation of reeds 

 and flags built up in the open among the reeds, or 

 laid, a little above the surface of the water, upon 

 the strong, outstretching branches of some tree 

 growing beside it. 



The natives living in the neighbourhood of 

 China Rock called the coots by the name of 

 " hobby.'* When one bears in mind the fact that 

 the hobby is a falcon capable of striking down a 

 swallow in flight, and remembers the sorry figure 

 cut by a coot when it attempts to fly a few yards 

 across the water, it seems incredible that the name 

 of the one should ever have been applied to the 

 other. 



At Pen Park Pool, on the 3oth May, we found 

 that the pochard a duck rarer than formerly, and 

 better known as a winter immigrant had installed 

 itself for the season. When we put it up from 

 the reeds, it rose with harsh cries, continuing 



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