# The Coot; The Bandicoot explained — How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts

> Chapter companion for How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts by Robert Williams Wood.

## What happens

The chapter humorously discusses the common Coot (or mud-hen) and the Australian Bandicoot, suggesting the latter springs from 'Kanga-roots' and their ancestral tree, with a playful motto.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wordplay and Homophones

Puns on 'at-tri-bute' and 'Kanga-roots' (kangaroo roots), and the motto 'O possum' playing on 'opossum'.

### Humor and Absurdity

Absurd notion that Bandicoots spring from roots of an ancestral tree, with a whimsical motto.

## Character check-ins

### the Birds

The Coot is a bird, referenced as 'mud-hen' and 'Earth-born'.

## Key lines

> I do not wish to at‑tri‑bute Importance to the common Coot, Or mud-hen, whom most persons scorn, Because she chanced to be “Earth-born.”

I don't want to give undue credit to the ordinary Coot, also called mud-hen, which people look down on just because it's a common bird.

_Explains the speaker's dismissive yet playful tone toward the Coot._

> The small Australian Bandicoots Are said to spring from Kanga‑roots, Which roots, as you of course foresee, Are those of their ancestral tree, The motto of which vegetable Is just “O possum” 2 (I am able).

Little Australian bandicoots supposedly come from 'kanga-roots,' which are the roots of their family tree, whose motto is 'O possum' (a pun on 'opossum' and 'I am able').

_Highlights the pun and absurd origin story for bandicoots._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters/the-coot-the-bandicoot
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters