COOT  , a well-known See also:

• WATER

water-See also:

• FOWL (Dan. Fugl, Ger. Vogel)

fowl, the Fulica atra of See also:

• LINNAEUS

Linnaeus, belonging to the See also:

• FAMILY

family Rallidae or rails . The word coot, in some parts of See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England pronounced cute, or scute, is of uncertain origin, but perhaps cognate with See also:

• SCOUT (from O. Fr. escouter, mod. ecouter, Lat. auscultare, to listen)

scout and See also:

• SCOTER

scoter—both names of aquatic birds—a possibility which seems to be more likely since the name " macreuse," by which the coot is known in the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France, being in the See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north of that See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country applied to the scoter (0edemia See also:

• NIGRA, COSTANTINO, COUNT (1828-1907)

nigra) shows that, though belonging to very different families, there is in popular estimation some connexion between the two birds.' The Latin Fulica (in polite See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French, Foulque) is probably allied to fuligo, and has reference to the See also:

• BIRD

bird's dark See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour.2 The coot breeds abundantly in many of the larger inland See also:

• WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the See also:

• NORTHERN

northern parts of the Old See also:

• WORLD

World, in See also:

• WINTER, JOHN STRANGE
• WINTER, PETER (c. 1755-1825)

winter commonly resorting, and often in See also:

• GREAT

great See also:

• NUMBERS, BOOK OF
• NUMBERS, PARTITION OF

numbers, to the mouth of See also:

• RIVERS
• RIVERS, ANTHONY WOODVILLE, or WYDEVILLE, 2ND EARL (c. 1442—1483)
• RIVERS, EARL
• RIVERS, RICHARD SAVAGE, 4TH EARL (c. 1660—1712)

rivers or shallow bays of the See also:

• SEA (in O. Eng. sae, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger. See, Dutch Zee, &c.; the ultimate source is uncertain)
• SEA, COMMAND OF THE

sea, where it becomes a See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• OBJECT

object of pursuit by gunners whether for See also:

• SPORT (a contracted or shortened form of "disport," to amuse, divert oneself, O. Fr. se dis porter or deporter, to leave off work, hence to play, Lat. dis-, away, and portare, to carry; the origin of the meaning lies in the notion of turning away from ser

sport or gain . 1 It is owing to this interchange of their names that See also:

• YARRELL, WILLIAM (1784–1856)

Yarrell in his See also:

• BRITISH

British Birds refers See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Victor See also:

• HUGO, GUSTAV VON (1764–1844)
• HUGO, VICTOR MARIE (1802-1885)

Hugo's description of the " See also:

• CHASSE (Fr. for " chased ")
• CHASSE (from the Fr., in full chasse-cafe, or " coffee-chaser ")

chasse aux macreuses " to the scoter instead of the coot . 2 Hence also we have Fulix or Fuligula applied to a See also:

• DUCK

duck of dingy See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance, and thus forming another parallel See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case . At other times of the See also:

• YEAR

year it is comparatively unmolested, and being very prolific its abundance is easily understood . The See also:

• NEST

nest is a large See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of flags, reeds or sedge, piled together among rushes in the water or on the margin, and not unfrequently contains as many as ten eggs . The See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

young, when first hatched, are beautiful little creatures, clothed in See also:

• JET (Fr. jais, Ger. Gagat)

jet-See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

black down, with their heads of a See also:

• BRIGHT, JOHN (1811-188g)
• BRIGHT, SIR CHARLES TILSTON

bright See also:

• ORANGE
• ORANGE (Citrus Aurantium)
• ORANGE, HOUSE OF

orange-See also:

• SCARLET

scarlet, varied with purplish-See also:

• BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue . This brilliant colouring is soon lost, and they begin to assume the almost See also:

• UNIFORM

uniform sooty-black plumage which is worn for the See also:

• REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of their See also:

• LIFE

life; but a characteristic of the adult is a See also:

• BARE

bare patch or callosity on the forehead, which being nearly See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white gives rise to the epithet " bald " often prefixed to the bird's name . The coot is about 18 in. in length, and will sometimes weigh over 2 lb . Though its wings appear to be See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short in proportion to its See also:

• SIZE

size, and it seems to rise with difficulty from the water, it is capable of See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long-sustained and rather rapid See also:

• FLIGHT

flight, which is performed with the legs stretched out behind the stumpy tail . It swims buoyantly, and looks a much larger bird in the water than it really is . It dives with ease, and when wounded is said frequently to clutch the weeds at the bottom with a grasp so See also:

• FIRM

firm as not even to be loosened by See also:

• DEATH

death .

It does not often come on dry See also:

• LAND

land, but when there, See also:

• MARCHES, THE (It. Le Marche)

marches leisurely and not without a certain degree of See also:

• GRACE (Fr. grace, Lat. gratia, from grates, beloved, pleasing; formed from the root cra-, Gr. xav-, cf. xaipw, x6p,ua, Xapts)
• GRACE, WILLIAM GILBERT (1848– )

grace . The feet of the coot are very remarkable, the toes being fringed by a lobed membrane, which must be of considerable assistance in See also:

• SWIMMING (from " swim," A.S. swimman, the root being common in Teutonic languages)

swimming as well as in walking over the See also:

• OOZE (O. Eng. wdse, cognate with an obsolete waise, mud; cf. O. Nor. veisa, muddy pool)

ooze—acting as they do like mud-boards . In England the sport of coot-See also:

• SHOOTING

shooting is pursued to some extent on the broads and back-waters of the eastern counties —in See also:

• SOUTHAMPTON
• SOUTHAMPTON, EARL OF
• SOUTHAMPTON, HENRY WRIOTHESLEY, 3RD EARL OF (1J73—1624)

Southampton Water and See also:

• CHRISTCHURCH

Christchurch See also:

• BAY

Bay—and is often conducted See also:

• BATTUE (from Fr. battre, to beat)

battue-See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion by a number of guns . But even in these cases the numbers killed in a See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day seldom reach more than a few hundreds, and come very short of those that fall in the officially-organized chasses of the lakes near the See also:

• COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of See also:

• LANGUEDOC

Languedoc and See also:

• PROVENCE (Provincia, Proenza)

Provence, of which an excellent description is given by the, Vicomte See also:

• LOUIS
• LOUIS (804–876)
• LOUIS (893–911)
• LOUIS, JOSEPH DOMINIQUE, BARON (1755-1837)
• LOUIS, or LEWIS (from the Frankish Chlodowich, Chlodwig, Latinized as Chlodowius, Lodhuwicus, Lodhuvicus, whence-in the Strassburg oath of 842-0. Fr. Lodhuwigs, then Chlovis, Loys and later Louis, whence Span. Luiz and—through the Angevin kings—Hungarian

Louis de Dax (Nouveaux Souvenirs de chasse, &c., pp . 53-65; See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris, 186o) . The flesh of the coot is very variously regarded as See also:

• FOOD
• FOOD (like the verb " to feed," from a Teutonic root, whence O. Eng. foda; cf. " fodder "; connected with Gr. lrareicOae, to feed)

food . To prepare the bird for the table, the feathers should be stripped, and the down, which is very See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close, thick and hard to See also:

• PLUCK

pluck, be rubbed with powdered See also:

• RESIN (through O.Fr. resine, modern reline, from Lat. resina, prcbably Latinized from Greek Pirivrt, resin)

resin; the See also:

• BODY

body is then to be dipped in boiling water, which dissolving the resin causes it to mix with the down, and then both can be removed together with tolerable ease . After this the bird should be See also:

• LEFT

left to soak for the See also:

• NIGHT

night in See also:

• COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold See also:

• SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring-water, which will make it look as white and delicate as a chicken . Without this See also:

• PROCESS

process the skin after roasting is found to be very oily, with a fishy flavour, and if the skin be taken off the flesh becomes dry and See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good for nothing (See also:

• HAWKER, ROBERT STEPHEN (1803–1874)

Hawker's Instructions to Young Sportsmen; Hele's Notes about See also:

• ALDEBURGH [ALDjIOROUGH]

Aldeburgh) . The coot is found throughout the Palaearctic region from See also:

• ICELAND (Dan. Island)

Iceland to See also:

• JAPAN

Japan, and in most other parts of the world is represented by nearly allied See also:

• SPECIES

species, having almost the same habits . An See also:

• AFRICAN

African species (F. cristata), easily distinguished by two red knobs on its forehead, is of rare appearance in the south of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe . The Australian and North See also:

• AMERICAN

American species (F. australis and F. americans) have very great resemblance to the See also:

• ENGLISH

English bird; but in South See also:

• AMERICA

America See also:

• HALF

half-a-dozen or more additional species are found which range to See also:

• PATAGONIA

Patagonia, and vary much in size, one (F. gigantea) being of considerable magnitude .

The remains of a very large species (F. newtoni) were discovered in See also:

• MAURITIUS

Mauritius, where it must have been a contemporary of the See also:

• DODO (from the PortugueseDhudo, a simpleton)

dodo, but like that bird is now See also:

• EXTINCT

extinct . (A .