n the 29th of October 1590. His Dutch version of the New Testament,
following the Latin of Erasmus, was never completed. His works, in prose
and verse, were published in 1630, 3 vols.

See F. D. J. Moorrees, _Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert_ (1887); N.
Delvenne, _Biog. des Pays-Bas_ (1829); A. J. van der Aa, _Biog.
Woordenboek der Nederlanden_ (1855). (A. Go.*)

COOT, a well-known water-fowl, the _Fulica atra_ of Linnaeus, belonging
to the family _Rallidae_ or rails. The word coot, in some parts of
England pronounced cute, or scute, is of uncertain origin, but perhaps
cognate with 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 south of France, being in the north of
that country applied to the scoter (_Oedemia nigra_) shows that, though
belonging to very different families, there is in popular estimation
some connexion between the two birds.[1] The Latin _Fulica_ (in polite
French, _Foulque_) is probably allied to _fuligo_, and has reference to
the bird's dark colour.[2] The coot breeds abundantly in many of the
larger inland waters of the northern parts of the Old World, in winter
commonly resorting, and often in great numbers, to the mouth of rivers
or shallow bays of the sea, where it becomes a general object of pursuit
by gunners whether for sport or gain. At other times of the year it is
comparatively unmolested, and being very prolific its abundance is
easily understood. The nest is a large 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 young, when first
hatched, are beautiful little creatures, clothed in jet-black down, with
their heads of a bright orange-scarlet, varied with purplish-blue. This
brilliant colouring is soon lost, and they begin to assume the almost
uniform sooty-black plumage which is worn for the rest of their life;
but a characteristic of the adult is a bare patch or callosity on the
forehead, which being nearly 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 short
in proportion to its size, and it seems to rise with difficulty from the
water, it is capable of long-sustained and rather rapid flight, which is
performed with the legs stretched out behind the s