the interior is snugly lined with soft hay, rushes, and leaves. The eggs, from seven to fifteen in number, are smooth-shelled, but lustreless. The female does not begin to sit until the last egg is laid; the young make their appearance in about twenty-one days; when first hatched they are beautiful little creatures, clad in dark-coloured down, with flaming red heads. They at once betake themselves to the water, where they are carefully fed, tended, and valorously defended by both the parent birds. At first they seem to prefer to keep themselves hidden among the reeds, but at night they retire to the nest. As they get stronger they become more independent, and even before they are fully fledged are well able to provide for themselves. Although the flesh of the Coots is scarcely eatable, they are nevertheless frequently killed for the sake of the sport. In Italy great numbers are caught by means of nets, and they are commonly sold in the markets at a very low price. THE COMMON COOT. The COMMON COOT (_Fulica atra_) very closely resembles the Water-hens, except in the peculiar construction of its feet. Its body is powerfully framed and slightly compressed at the sides; the neck is of moderate length, and the head rather large; the beak is conical, compressed at the sides, and has its sharp cutting margins slightly denticulated. The callosity upon the forehead is large; the foot moderately high, strong, compressed at the sides, and furnished with long toes, each of which is fringed laterally with a broad expansion of the skin divided into lobes. The wings are of moderate length, with their second and third quills longer than the rest; the tail consists of fourteen or sixteen quills, and is very short, being almost entirely hidden by its covers. The plumage, which is of extraordinary thickness, is almost entirely of a uniform slaty-black; the head and neck, however, are darker, and the breast and belly lighter than the rest of the body. The eyes are light red, the beak and callosity on the brow pure white, and the feet lead-grey, merging towards the heel into a reddish green. In young birds the plumage on the under side of the body is light grey mixed with black, and the mantle tinged with an olive shade. This species is eighteen inches long, and thirty broad; the wing measures nine, and the tail three inches.