. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . o a naked plate; both mandiblesof the same length, the upper slightly curved, and reduced at the base, the lower form-ing an angle ; nostrils lateral, in the middle of the bill, longitudinally cleft, half closed bva membrane ; legs long, slender, naked above the knee ; all the toes very long, connectedat their base, and furnished along their sides with scalloped membranes. 652 AVES—CRESTED GREBE. of the head, which in the water-hen is red, in the coot is white.
. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . o a naked plate; both mandiblesof the same length, the upper slightly curved, and reduced at the base, the lower form-ing an angle ; nostrils lateral, in the middle of the bill, longitudinally cleft, half closed bva membrane ; legs long, slender, naked above the knee ; all the toes very long, connectedat their base, and furnished along their sides with scalloped membranes. 652 AVES—CRESTED GREBE. of the head, which in the water-hen is red, in the coot is white. The upperparts of its plumage are black, the breast and belly white. As the coot is alarger bird than the water-hen, which it much resembles, it is always seenin larger streams, and more remote from mankind. It there makes a nestof such weeds as the stream supplies, and lays them among the reeds, float-ing on the surface, and rising and falling with the water. The reeds amongwhich it is ouilt keep it fast, so that it is seldom washed into the middle ofthe stream. But if this happens, which is sometimes the case, the bird sits. in her nest, like a mariner in his boat, and steers, with her legs, her cargointo the nearest harbor; there, having attained her port, she continues tosit in great tranquillity, regardless of the impetuosity of the current; and,though the water penetrates her nest, she hatches her eggs in that wetcondition. The coot is by no means a rare bird in Britain, where it residespermanently, though with the seasons it changes its residence. It is rathera timid bird, very inert, and feeds in the evening, upon fishes, insects, seeds,and herbage. In Madagascar there is a coot with a red comb like a cock. THE CRESTED GREBE, i This bird is about the size of a duck. Its bill, that part especiallytowards the head, is of a reddish color, and is somewhat more than twoinches in length. On the top of the head and neck is a beautiful crestof feathers, those on the neck appe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
