RALLIDA. 519 
THE COOT. 
Fuuica ATRA, Linnzus. 
The Coot is found upon most of the large ponds, lakes and 
sluggish rivers throughout the British Islands. In East Anglia, 
owing to successive drainage of its breeding-haunts, it is less plenti- 
ful than it formerly was, but it is still abundant on the Broads; 
also on Slapton Ley in Devon, where large numbers are killed 
at the annual battues; on Southampton Water; and in Poole 
Harbour and other parts of Dorsetshire ; while on the Nene, in 
Northamptonshire, it appears to have increased. As a rule it is 
resident, remaining throughout the winter even in the Hebrides and 
Orkneys ; though chiefly a summer-visitor to the Shetlands. When 
the inland waters are closed by frost it migrates to tidal estuaries 
and the sea-coast. 
This species is a tolerably regular visitor to the Faroes, and 
wanders to the south-west of Iceland, while a solitary example has 
even reached Greenland. On the coast of Norway, under the 
influence of the Gulf Stream, the Coot has been found up to 
lat. 70° N.; while it nests in the southern districts of that country 
and of Sweden, as well as along the shores of the Baltic, as far as 
