456 



ANIMAL LIFE-HISTORIES 



974- — Nest of Coot [Fitlica atra) 



of an enthusiastic ornithologist to tolerate. The nests are made 

 of sea- weed, turf straws, and scraps of moss, the soil from the turf 



being trampled into a mortar- 

 like mass and binding the 

 whole together. In a shallow 

 cavity at the top of this cone- 

 like structure a single &<g<g is 

 laid, originally white and coated 

 thickly with lime, but soon 

 becoming stained into a rich 

 brown from contact with the 

 big webbed feet of the parent 

 birds. Numbers of nests in 

 some spots are crowded to- 

 gether, often so closely that 

 the cliff is literally white with 

 sitting birds." The nest of 

 our smallest native gull, the 

 Kittiwake {Rissa tridactyla) 

 is a massive structure of similar kind (fig. 972). The illustration 

 shows a young bird on the nest, as photographed by Mr. Van 



Someren at the Bass 

 Rock. 



Some birds build 

 fairly well constructed 

 nests in sheltered 

 spots on or near the 

 ground, as in the Sky- 

 lark {^Alauda arvensis, 

 fig. 973), where dried 

 grass, herbs, moss, 

 and a little hair are 

 used for the purpose. 

 The Coot {Fulica 

 atra, fig. 974) con- 

 structs a bulky nest 

 of sedges, rushes, or 

 flags, among the vegetation of its native stream. The illustration 

 shows part of a sort of "road" trodden down by the birds in going 

 to and from the nest. Sometimes this home is a floating one, as 



fig- 975— White Swan (Cjty^iM olor) building a floating Ne 



