LAKE, SWAMP, AND REED BED. 99 



shy birds. Perhaps its most characteristic bird 

 is the Coot. From time immemorial Slapton 

 Ley has been famous for its Coots. Besides 

 the resident Coots that are so numerous as 

 sometimes to blacken parts of the water with 

 their massed numbers, a great many others visit 

 the ley during winter, especially after severe 

 weather, and remain there until the following 

 spring. Formerly an annual winter shoot, open 

 to every gunner who cared to join in the sport, 

 took place ; but nowadays more conservative 

 conditions prevail, and the grand battues are 

 few and far between. One of the more recent 

 of these shoots resulted in bagging close upon 

 a couple of thousand Coots in a single day, and 

 there can be little doubt that the majority of 

 the birds escaped out to sea. A visit to the ley 

 either in summer or winter is equally interesting 

 to the lover of bird-life. In spring, when the 

 young reeds are not yet sufficiently high to 

 conceal the birds, many a delightful little glimpse 

 can be got of their ways. The Coots are every- 

 where dotted about the water in pairs or little 

 parties, swimming hither and thither, their white 

 frontal shields gleaming in the sunlight, and 



