798 POKPHYKIO POLIOCEPIIALUS. 



swarms of crocodiles lurking about them are the best safeguard against the sportsman wading in within 

 killing distance of them. In spite of crocodiles, however (which in these marshy places belong to the smaller 

 species, Crocodilus palustris, which average about 8 to 10 feet in length, and are not dangerous), I have 

 frequently waded for a long time, in search of other and more valuable species, through the haunts of the 

 Blue Coot, and then I observed that he mysteriously disappeared into the surrounding vegetation and re- 

 mained in concealment until after my retreat. When put on the wing it "flies well and swiftly. I have seen 

 one flying round and round the Lotus Pond at Colombo many times before alighting, its long legs stretched 

 out behind him like a Heron's. At the Tamara Kulam, near Trincomalie, the dense rush-growth of which 

 was tenanted by swarms of these Coots, their hiding-place was burnt down once a year by natives, and 

 then they disappeared for some time, making their way probably through the jungle to other haunts in 

 the neighbourhood. 



It is chiefly vegetarian in its diet, and is said in India to commit havoc in the rice-fields, concerning 

 which Mr. Cripps states that it cuts the stalks just above the roots and eats the tender pith. I have seen it in 

 grass at some distance from the water, and when disturbed it ran with moderate speed, but with an awkward 

 gait, into the reeds, through which it seemed to force its way without any difficulty. Jerdon styles its note 

 " a fowl-like call," and states that it thrives well in confinement, and has been observed to hold stalks of 

 grain or other food with one of its feet. It is possible that this species may devour the eggs of wild birds ; 

 for the European bird, P. veterum, remarks Jerdon, " is said to destroy large numbers of wild ducks' eggs 

 by sucking them. One was seen by Canon Tristram to seize a duckling in its huge foot, crush its head and 

 eat the brains, leaving the rest untouched." In this cannibalism it resembles the common Waterhen. 



Captain Butler writes concerning its habits in bulrush-beds in Northern Guzerat : — "In such localities 

 I found the bird tolerably tame, and saw them in dozens sitting on the top of the bulrushes, allowing one 

 often to pass within an easy shot of them without flying down . . . Prom the row they make in the rushes, 

 cackling and chasing each other through the water, I fancy they are very pugnacious. 



"I remember," he says, " seeing one once take refuge in a babool tree after being driven out of a thick 

 bed of rushes. No sooner had he settled than an Eagle descended into the tree and seized him ; the poor Coot 

 cried out piteously, making a noise very like the cries of a domestic fowl when caught to be killed. After 

 waiting a few seconds I approached the tree and the Eagle flew off, dropping the Coot on the ground, which 

 was in a dying state when I picked it up, with a deep wound in the breast, inflicted with the Eagle's claws." 



Mr. Hume notices that they have a " flapping, noisy flight, like that of a Peafowl, when flushed out of 

 reed-beds, and that they do not rise more than a few yards in the air." This, however, is not always the case. 



Nidification. — In the south-east of Ceylon this bird nests, to my knowledge, in the early part of the 

 year. Mr. Price, of the Public Works' Department, informed me that they nested in the Hambantota district 

 on the borders of swamps and tanks, making a large nest of grass, reeds, and rushes. Two eggs given to me 

 by this gentleman were somewhat of a pyriform shape, and of a stone- or yellow-grey ground-colour, spotted 

 sparingly throughout, one with roundish spots, the other with longitudinal dashes of umber-browu, greyish 

 blue, and purplish brown. They measured respectively Id by P38 and 1*9 by P34 inch. 



From ' Nests and Eggs ' I transcribe the following note by Mr. Hume on this bird's nesting in India : — 

 " The Purple Coot breeds all over the plains of India, wherever there are large swamps and jheels with plenty 

 of rush and reed. As a rule, not less than ten pairs breed in the same place. I have invariably in Northern 

 India found the eggs in July and August, never earlier or later; but they are said to have been met with in 

 June and September. 



" Two noteworthy points are : — (1st) that all the birds in the same swamp both lay and hatch off at the 

 same time ; (2nd) that in two different jheels only a dozen miles apart, and apparently precisely similarly 

 situated, there will be a difference of fifteen days or more in the period of laying of the two colonies . . . 



" The ucst is made of pieces of rush and reed in amongst thick grass and rice. Sometimes it is on the 

 ground, sometimes, though not free, it is floating. In the latter case the bottom of the cavity will not be 

 above an inch or two from the surface of the water, but there will be a mass of stuff submerged. Ten is the 

 maximum number of eggs that I have as yet found in any nest, and I have repeatedly taken seven or eight 



