THE COOT. 137 



rushes, and other dry herbage, matted together with 

 grass, fastened to the bush of rushes with the same, 

 and lined with soft, dry grass. There is a provision 

 of nature in the construction of the coot's nest. She 

 builds at so early a period of the season, that she is 

 in danger of being inundated by the spring rains. 

 Against casualties from these, she guards both by the 

 quantity and the buoyancy of her materials. The 

 height of her nest allows a considerable rise in the 

 surface of the surrounding water, and when that in- 

 creases too much, the nest is so buoyant that it can 

 float off, bearing her and her eggs in safety, to another 

 portion of the water. This elevation of the nest is apt 

 to expose both the coot and her eggs to the buzzard, 

 and other predatory birds, and for this purpose she 

 carefully seeks the concealment of the tallest flags and 

 rushes. The coots are prolific birds; the female lays 

 from twelve to twenty eggs, and she generally has two 

 broods in the year. The eggs are about the size of 

 those of the common hen, and of a dull white colour, 

 with dark spots running into blotches at the thick end. 

 In some places those eggs are in considerable request. 

 In flavour they are certainly inferior to those of the 

 hen, but they are more handsome in appearance. The 

 female sits about three weeks ; and the instant the 

 young quit the shell, they swim and dive and play in 

 the water with the greatest ease and activity. 



Many other water-fowl are found seasonally on the 

 margins of lakes ; but they, and indeed those that have 

 been mentioned, are not so strictly speaking inhabi- 

 tants of lakes, as they are of ppols, fens, marshes, and 

 the banks of rivers, or upon the shores of the sea. 

 N 3 



