time past, owing, no doubt, to the unfortunate fact that our 

 river is more or less navigable, and open to the depreda- 

 tions of trippers and loafers upon anything that will float. 

 Besides this, foxes, otters, stoats, cur- dogs, pike, rats, 

 and severe weather have all, in varying degrees, contri- 

 buted to the extinction of the Coots. At present I only 

 know of one locality in our immediate neighbourhood in 

 which a pair of these birds occasionally nest, and we 

 now seldom see more than two or three together on the 

 unfrozen spots in the river during severe frosts. Our 

 Coot loves broad open expanses of still water at all 

 times of the year, and breeds, or used to breed, in great- 

 numbers in the " Broad " district of Norfolk to which I 

 have above alluded. This bird is virtually omnivorous, 

 but feeds principally upon water-weeds, and mollusca 

 obtained by diving. When left unmolested, the Coot 

 becomes very tame and confiding, but it is by nature an 

 exceedingly wary bird, and I have noticed that Ducks of 

 all kinds like its company, probably finding it a most 

 efficient sentinel, although I suspect that, in common 

 with the other members of this class, the Coot is a 

 dangerous neighbour to the fledgings of other species. 

 It is a very active bird on land and water, running 

 lightly and rapidly over the soft muds, swimming 

 buoyantly, diving vigorously, and a good flyer, although 

 when compelled to rise from the water it does so 

 heavily, and scratches the surface with its toes for 

 some distance. Coots often climb to a considerable 

 height in thick bushes and occasionally roost therein. 

 The nest is a large mass of broken reeds, flags, and 

 sedges, and is generally built near the edge of a thick 



