406 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
earth round it so as to form a small circular wall. If their 
nest be approached very closely, the alarmed parents snap 
their bills like angry owls, and if they wish to be very aggres- 
sive they discharge from their bills a quantity of oil ; but they 
seem to have no ideas of actual fight. The Albatros lays only 
one egg. 
Our last sample of 6 Homes without Hands ’ is the ingenious 
structure that is made by the Coot (. Fulica air a), the Bald 
Coot as it is sometimes called, on account of the horny plate 
on the forehead, which is pink during the breeding season, and 
white during the rest of the year. Although the general colour 
of the Coot is black, it is a pretty bird when in the water, and 
if the day be calm, the reflection on the surface has a very 
curious effect, the white patch appearing as if it rose to the 
surface of the water every time that the bird nods its head in 
the act of swimming. 
The favourite nesting places of the Coot are little islands on 
which the grass grows rankly. Failing them it will make its 
nest among reeds and rushes, binding and twisting them together 
until they are firm enough to support the weight of the nest, 
the bird, and the many eggs. Should it not find either of 
these localities, it will build on the edge of the water, and 
almost invariably contrives to make its nest in such a manner 
that it cannot be reached from the land. The quantity of 
reeds, bulrushes, sedges, grass, and other materials used in the 
nest is very surprising ; and yet, in spite of its large dimen- 
sions, it is not a conspicuous object. The nest contains a 
great number of eggs, seldom less than seven, and sometimes 
twelve or fourteen. They are whitish, and profusely spotted 
with irregular brown marks. 
