Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

COOT

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 93 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

COOT , a well-known See also:

water-See also:fowl, the Fulica atra of See also:Linnaeus, belonging to the See also:family Rallidae or rails. The word coot, in some parts of See also:England pronounced cute, or scute, is of uncertain origin, but perhaps cognate with See also:scout and 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 of See also:France, being in the See also:north of that See also:country applied to the See also:scoter (0edemia See also: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, Foulque) is probably allied to fuligo, and has reference to the See also:bird's dark See also:colour.2 The coot breeds abundantly in many of the larger inland See also:waters of the See also:northern parts of the Old See also:World, in See also:winter commonly resorting, and often in See also:great See also:numbers, to the mouth of See also:rivers or shallow bays of the See also:sea, where it becomes a See also:general See also:object of pursuit by gunners whether for See also:sport or gain. 1 It is owing to this interchange of their names that See also:Yarrell in his See also:British Birds refers See also:Victor See also:Hugo's description of the " See also:chasse aux macreuses " to the scoter instead of the coot. 2 Hence also we have Fulix or Fuligula applied to a See also:duck of dingy See also:appearance, and thus forming another parallel See also:case. At other times of the See also:year it is comparatively unmolested, and being very prolific its abundance is easily understood. The See also:nest is a large See also: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, when first hatched, are beautiful little creatures, clothed in See also:jet-See also:black down, with their heads of a See also:bright See also:orange-See also:scarlet, varied with purplish-See also:blue. This brilliant colouring is soon lost, and they begin to assume the almost See also:uniform sooty-black plumage which is worn for the See also:rest of their See also:life; but a characteristic of the adult is a See also:bare patch or callosity on the forehead, which being nearly See also: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 in proportion to its See also:size, and it seems to rise with difficulty from the water, it is capable of See also:long-sustained and rather rapid See also: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 as not even to be loosened by See also:death.

It does not often come on dry See also:

land, but when there, See also:marches leisurely and not without a certain degree of See also: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 as well as in walking over the ooze—acting as they do like mud-boards. In England the sport of coot-See also:shooting is pursued to some extent on the broads and back-waters of the eastern counties —in See also:Southampton Water and See also:Christchurch Bay—and is often conducted See also:battue-See also:fashion by a number of guns. But even in these cases the numbers killed in a See also: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 of See also:Languedoc and See also:Provence, of which an excellent description is given by the, Vicomte See also:Louis de Dax (Nouveaux Souvenirs de chasse, &c., pp. 53-65; See also:Paris, 186o). The flesh of the coot is very variously regarded as See also:food. To prepare the bird for the table, the feathers should be stripped, and the down, which is very See also:close, thick and hard to See also:pluck, be rubbed with powdered See also:resin; the See also: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 to soak for the See also:night in See also:cold See also:spring-water, which will make it look as white and delicate as a chicken. Without this See also: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 for nothing (See also:Hawker's Instructions to Young Sportsmen; Hele's Notes about See also:Aldeburgh). The coot is found throughout the Palaearctic region from See also:Iceland to See also:Japan, and in most other parts of the world is represented by nearly allied See also:species, having almost the same habits. An See also:African species (F. cristata), easily distinguished by two red knobs on its forehead, is of rare appearance in the south of See also:Europe. The Australian and North See also:American species (F. australis and F. americans) have very great resemblance to the See also:English bird; but in South See also:America See also:half-a-dozen or more additional species are found which range to See also: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, where it must have been a contemporary of the See also:dodo, but like that bird is now See also:extinct. (A.

End of Article: COOT

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
COORNHERT, DIRCK VOLCKERTSZOON (1522-1590) 		[next]
COOTE, SIR EYRE (1726-1783)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries