The Coot 



the case with the Moor -hen. In winter, although a 

 resident, it collects in large flocks, and many visit the bays 

 and estuaries round the coast, receiving considerable addi- 

 tions to their numbers from the Continent. The Coot is 

 extremely wary and difficult to approach, taking wing on the 

 least sign of danger ; it flies well and fast, carrying its 

 legs stretched out behind, but has to run along the surface 

 of the water for some distance before it can rise. The 

 sexes are alike and have the whole of the plumage sooty 

 black, with a narrow white bar across the wing. Bill and 

 frontal plate white ; legs dark green. Length 15 in.; wing 

 8-5 in. 



Although as a rule this bird casts its primaries at 

 once, this is not invariably the case, as it sometimes moults 

 them in pairs like the majority of birds. 



THE CRANE 



Qrus communis, Bechstein 



Three centuries or more ago the Crane bred regularly 

 in our eastern counties, and for long afterwards it used 

 to appear as a regular migrant every winter. At the 

 present time, however, it is an extremely scarce and irregular 

 visitor. It still breeds in Southern Scandinavia and thence 

 southwards and eastwards throughout the whole of Europe. 

 Its general colour is dark slaty grey, devoid of any 

 markings. The inner secondaries are long and drooping 

 and conceal the tail. The adults have a red warty patch 

 on the crown. Length 45 in. ; wing 21 in. 



291 



