r larger
than the common swift, and has wings of greater length, and can fly
even more rapidly. Hark! I hear the noise of a coot proceeding from
the reeds of a pond. I dare say if we keep quite still we shall get a
glimpse of her. There she comes; and do look, a lot of young ones with
her; little black downy things they are, as we should see were we near
enough to examine them. The old birds have a naked white patch on the
forehead, and are therefore called bald-coots. You can see the white
patch now she faces us and the sun is shining; the body is a dingy
black tinged with dark grey; you notice a little white about the
wings. The feet of the coot are curiously formed, each of the four
toes is partly webbed, having a membrane forming rounded lobes; the
claws are very sharp, and the bird does not hesitate to make use of
them if you catch hold of it carelessly; so Col. Hawker gives the
following caution to young sportsmen--"Beware of a winged coot, or he
will scratch you like a cat."

I never saw a coot dive; and think it seldom does; water-hens, every
one knows, are frequent divers.

The old bird is pulling up some of the weeds of the pool for the young
ones; how carefully she attends to them; the heads of the little ones
are nearly naked, and of a bright orange colour mixed with blue; but
this brilliant colouring lasts only a few days. The nest is made of
broken reeds and flags, and hidden amongst the tall rushes and edges
in the water.

Bewick mentions the case of a coot having built her nest among some
rushes, which were afterwards loosened by the wind, and of course the
nest was driven about and floated upon the surface of the water in
every direction; notwithstanding which, the female continued to sit as
usual, and brought out her young upon her movable habitation. See, now
they have all gone away to hide amongst the reeds; they like to come
out into the open water late in the evening, and it is not often easy
to observe them in the day-time. There are plenty of moor-hens or
water-hens in these reedy pools. They are not so peaceful as the
coots, for they have been known to attack young ducklings. There one
swims, jerking up its tail, which is whitish underneath, and nodding
its head; the moor-hen is a smaller bird than the coot, though
resembling it both in form and habits. The feet, however, are very
different, for, instead of the toes being furnished with a lobed
membrane, they have a continuous narrow one dow