4o6 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



earth round it so as to form a small circular wall. If their 

 nest be approached very closely, the alarmed parents snap 

 their bills like angry owls, and if they wish to be very aggres- 

 sive they discharge from their bills a quantity of oil ; but they 

 seem to have no ideas of actual fight. The Albatros lays only 

 one egg. 



Our last sample of ' Homes without Hands ' is the ingenious 

 structure that is made by the Coot (Fulica aira\ the Bald 

 Coot as it is sometimes called, on account of the homy plate 

 on the forehead, which is pink during the breeding season, and 

 white during the rest of the year. Although the general colour 

 of the Coot is black, it is a pretty bird when in the water, and 

 if the day be calm, the reflection on the surface has a very 

 curious effect, the white patch appearing as if it rose to the 

 surface of the water every time that the bird nods its head in 

 the act of swimming. 



The favourite nesting places of the Coot are little islands on 

 which the grass grows rankly. Failing them it will make its 

 nest among reeds and rushes, binding and twisting them together 

 until they are firm enough to support the weight of the nest, 

 the bird, and the many eggs. Should it not find either of 

 these localities, it will build on the edge of the water, and 

 almost invariably contrives to make its nest in such a manner 

 that it cannot be reached from the land. The quantity of 

 reeds, bulrushes, sedges, grass, and other materials used in the 

 nest is very surprising ; and yet, in spite of its large dimen- 

 sions, it is not a conspicuous object The nest contains a 

 great number of eggs, seldom less than seven, and sometimes 

 twelve or fourteen. They are whitish, and profusely spotted 

 with irregular brown marks. 



