time past,owing, no doubt, to the unfortunate fact that our 
river is more or less navigable, and open to the depreda- 
tions of trippers and loafers upon anything that will float. 
Besides this, foxes, otters, stoats, cur-dogs, pike, rats, 
and severe weather have all, in varying degrees, contri- 
buted to the extinction of the Coots. At present I only 
know of one locality in our immediate neighbourhood in 
which a pair of these birds occasionally nest, and we 
now seldom see more than two or three together on the 
unfrozen spots in the river during severe frosts. Our 
Coot loves broad open expanses of still water at all 
times of the year, and breeds, or used to breed, in great 
numbers in the “ Broad ” district of Norfolk to which I 
have above alluded. This bird is virtually omnivorous, 
but feeds principally upon water-weeds, and mollusca 
obtained by diving. When left unmolested, the Coot 
becomes very tame and confiding, but it is by nature an 
exceedingly wary bird, and I have noticed that Ducks of 
all kinds like its company, probably finding it a most 
efficient sentinel, although I suspect that, im common 
with the other members of this class, the Coot is a 
dangerous neighbour to the fledgings of other species. 
It is a very active bird on land and water, running 
lightly and rapidly over the soft muds, swimming 
buoyantly, diving vigorously, and a good flyer, although 
when compelled to rise from the water it does so 
heavily, and scratches the surface with its toes for 
some distance. Coots often climb to a considerable 
height im thick bushes and occasionally roost therein. 
The nest is a large mass of broken reeds, flags, and 
sedges, and is generally built near the edge of a thick 
