THE COOT. 625 



It chooses the summit of lofty precipices near the sea, and its 

 nest may be found most plentifully in Tristan d'Acunha and 

 the Marion Islands. The Albatros is lord of the country, and 

 no other living being seems to intrude upon its nesting place. So 

 completely do the birds feel themselves masters of the situation, 

 that if a human being penetrates to their haunts, they quietly 

 move about as if he were non-existent, and do not appear' to take 

 the least notice of him. On stich elevated positions the cold is 

 necessarily intense, but the Albatros cares not for the cold, and 

 brings up its white-coated young in a temperature that few 

 human beings like to endure longer than needful. 



No particular bed seems necessary for the egg, for the mother 

 bird simply deposits it on the bare ground, and then scrapes 

 earth round it so as to form a small circular wall, as may be seen 

 by reference to the illustration. If their nest be approached very 

 closely, the alarmed parents snap their bills like angry owls, and 

 if they wish to be very aggressive 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 atra), 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 altacst 

 invariably contrives to make its nest in such a manner that it 

 cannot be reached from the land. The quantity of reeds, bul- 

 rushes, sedges, grass, and other materials used in the nest isvely 

 surprising ; and yet, in spite of its large dimensions it is not a 

 conspicuous object. The nest contains a great number of eggs, 



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