OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 87 



Family EALLID^. Genus Fulica. 



Subfamily Ftjliginm. 



COMMON COOT. 



FULICA ATB.A.—Linnceus. 



Fulica atra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 257 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 560 (1852) ; 

 Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 327, pi. 504 fig. 2 (1879) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4. iii. p. 171 

 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 564 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 

 p. 342 (1893) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxxi. p. 211 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Eig. 

 Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 87, pi. 22 (1896) ; 

 Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 238 (1897). 



Geographical distribution. — British : The Coot is less common and 

 more locally distributed than the Water Hen, but numerous enough in all 

 suitable localities throughout the British Islands, extending to the Outer 

 Hebrides and the Orkneys. To the Shetlands and the Channel Islands it is 

 an accidental visitor only. Drainage and reclamation of waste, marshy grounds 

 have caused its numbers to decrease in some districts, especially in the 

 eastern counties ; although there is considerable evidence of its increase in 

 others. Foreign : Including allied forms, almost cosmopolitan. It is generally 

 distributed throughout Europe, breeding in the west as far north as lat. 60° in 

 Scandinavia and West Eussia, but in the Ural Mountains up to lat. 57° only ; 

 whilst in West Siberia it reaches lat. 55° only. It is a summer migrant to East 

 Siberia, the Baikal country, the valley of the Amoor, East Mongolia, Northern 

 China, and the north island of Japan ; but is a resident in the main island of 

 Japan, South China, Formosa, Java, and the Philippines. It is a resident 

 throughout the Burmese Peninsula, India, and Persia ; but only a summer 

 migrant to Kussian Turkestan, and passes Afghanistan on migration. Tracing 

 its distribution westwards, we find it to be a resident in Asia Minor, Palestine, 

 North Africa, and the Azores. It is known on the Canaries and Madeira on 

 migration, and during winter is found on the African continent as far south as 

 Senegambia in the west, and the Blue Nile in the east. It is also a bird of 

 regular passage over the Faroes, occurs accidentally in Iceland, and has been 

 known once to stray to Greenland. In the southern portions of its range it is 

 more abundant in winter than in summer, owing to the influx of birds from the 

 northern limits. This is especially noticeable in the basin of the Mediterranean 

 and in India. 



