138 L0B1PEDID.E. 



either uttered singly or several times in succession, when 

 it almost sounds like the barking of a small dog ; the young- 

 birds pipe like young ducks. 



The food consists in water insects, their larvae, and divers 

 aquatic vegetable productions, such as buds, flowers, and 

 seeds ; neither fishes nor frogs have been found in the 

 stomach of the Coot, but corn of several kinds, which it 

 obtains during the quiet hours of the night. During the 

 spring of the year the bird dives very frequently when in 

 pursuit of food, which is attributed to the aquatic vegeta- 

 tion not having reached the surface of the water. 



In the month of March the reeds and sedges have not 

 attained a sufficient height for the cover of a nest, and 

 consequently the Coot chooses some last year's tuft that 

 has remained untouched by the hand of man, and in many 

 cases the formation of a nest is deferred until May. From 

 the time of their arrival the birds begin to fight among 

 themselves for the preference of some chosen spot ; when 

 several pairs, however, find shelter in a place proper for the 

 purpose, the fights of the male birds are thus constant ; 

 in some instances, the females join in the same until they 

 begin to lay their eggs. The foundation of the nest con- 

 sists generally of the stumps of last year's rushes that are 

 just level with the water, and the tallest are then bent down 

 to a centre, and interwoven by means of thinner herbage ; 

 frequently it is placed on some floating bunch of rushes, or 

 even entirely constructed of floating materials, where the 

 surrounding rushes prevent it from drifting : the size of the 

 nest is about eighteen inches in diameter, to a foot in height, 

 the interior cup is just deep enough to hold the eggs, and 

 sufficiently well constructed to keep them dry. About the 

 time that the nest is made, the surrounding reeds have at- 

 tained a sufficient height to allow the nearest to be bent 



