108 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



contrast to the black plumage of the rest. The iris is red, 

 and there is a small streak of white under the eye ; head, 

 nape, and back black ; chin, throat and breast deep ash 

 grey, tinged with a bluish tint. The wings are black, with 

 a white line on the bend, and the secondary feathers are 

 tipped with white, forming a narrow line across the wing. 

 The legs, which are placed very far back, are, as well as the 

 toes, of a greyish-ash colour, and above the knee is an 

 orange band. The young have the head and breast a 

 reddish-brown, the rest of the down is dingy black. 

 Occasionally Coots have been found partly white, and others 

 entirely so. 



