By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 



71 



beaks of the one, nor have they the webbed feet of the other ; but 

 yet they approach both these characteristics. With slender naked 

 legs of moderate length they possess feet of a very remarkable 

 structure, inasmuch as these are furnished with a lateral develop- 

 ment of membrane, which, though it does not connect them as in 

 the true Swimmers, projects in rounded lobes on either side of the 

 toes. With these they can swim and dive with perfect ease ; 

 indeed they pass the greater portion of their lives in the water, 

 though frequently seen on land too. There are but three species 

 of this family known in England, and I have instances of the 

 occurrence of all of them in Wiltshire. 



" Common Coot." (Fulica atra.) This is a common bird, gener- 

 ally to be found in the haunts of the Moorhen, and like that species, 

 has a horny frontal plate which runs from the base of the beak to 

 the forehead ; and which being of a pure white colour, is very 

 conspicuous on the nearly black plumage of the bird : hence it is 

 often called the " Bald Coot." It is the only species of the family 

 which frequents inland lakes ; and in its general habits, innate 

 shyness, retirement amongst sedge and reeds on the least alarm, 

 and method, when flushed, of scuttling over the surface of the 

 pond, striking the water with its feet to aid its progress, it bears a 

 very close resemblance to the Moorhen last described. 



" Grey Phalarope." (Phalaropus lobatus.) This pretty little 

 bird belongs rather to the ocean than the land ; and its home is in 

 Northern Asia, Siberia, and Northern America, so that when it 

 visits us in Wiltshire, it is as an accidental straggler indeed : and 

 yet I have many records of its occurrence here. The specimen 

 from which Colonel Montagu took his description and which was 

 in his own museum, was taken at a pond at Alderton. 1 Yarrell 

 reports that " Mr. Lambert presented to the Zoological Society a 

 beautifully marked adult bird, which was killed in Wiltshire in 

 the month of August, and retained at that time a great portion of 

 the true red colours of the breeding season or summer plumage." 2 

 The late Mr. Marsh recorded that one was brought to him which 

 was killed by some boys with a stone on Dunspool pond, on the 

 1 Ornithological Dictionary in loco. 2 British Birds, vol. iii., p. 132. 



