GRALLATORES. LOBIPEDWJE.
TH E COMMON COOT.
Common Coot, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol.- ii. pt^p7.
>i ,, Mont. Ornith. Diet, j,.
The „ Bewick, Brit. Birds, voBfii* p. 149.
Common Flem. Brit. An. p. tOO.
, , ,, Selby, Brit. Ornith. volf ii. p. 1&3.
, , ,, Jenyns, Brit. Veit. p. •’
- The {yOeiiLD, Birds of-Europe, pt, xij:;,;':.
,, ,, Foulque macroule, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vok'ii. p. 706.
-• F ulica. Generic Ch/bracfers.—Besk of medium size,. shorter than,the head,
strong, corneal, straight, compressed at the base, higher than broad, superior
basal portion extending up the forehead, and dilated, forming a naked patch ;
points of both mandibles compressed, of equal length ; the upper one slightly
curved, the inferior mandible with an angla underneath | f the symphysis.
Nostrils lateral, pierced longitudinally about -the middle tff the beak, partly
closed by a membrane. Legs long, slender,.naked above the tarsal joint; three
toes in front, one behind ; all the toes long, united at the base, furnished latexally
with an .extension of the membrane, forming rounded' lobes.' Wings of
moderate size ; the first feather shorter than the second or third, which are the
longest in the wing. Tail short.
T h e C oot is a common bird upon large ponds, lakes, and
slow rivers; it also frequents the level shores of some parts
of the cohst;; where extensive mud-flats are laid bare at each
retiring tide; preferring, however, open waters, and does not,
except in the breeding-season,'so much geek the sheltered
reed-grown situations frequented by> the Moor-hen; the extreme
watchfulness of the- Coot enabling it to avoid danger.
^Colonel Hawiter,' in; his Instructions to Young Sportsmen,
shTfs^ilf a gentleman wishes to have plenty of wild-fowl on
his pond, let him preserve the Coots, and keep no tame
Swans. 'The?reaison that all wild-fowl seek the company of
the is* ’Because thfesfe birds are, such good sentries, to
gili&the alarm by. day, when the fowl generally sleep.”
The Coot is- seldom seen on dry land, and its power of
active progression on shore has been doubted; but Mr. Youell
.^serves that those authors could have had bat few opportunities
of noticing the habits of this bird, for, instead of
being' awkward on land, it is fully as lively on land as in the
water, standing firmly and steadily, and without any tottering
or waddling in its gait. It picks up grain with surprising
alacrity,1 bvtsh much quicker than any of our domestic poultry.
I f deprived of water, on which to pass the night, it will roost,
as other land birds; upon any elevated situation, and it will
ascend a tree with the activity of a Wren. In reference to
the power of its claws, tub sportsman’s book already referred
to, contains the following' caution :'t$ “ Beware of a winged
Coot, or he will scratch you like a cat.” -
The authors of the. Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds
noticb-the breeding of the Coots on those large pieces of
water in the marshes of Norfolk called Broads, and on some
of them in considerable numbers, i In autumn and winter