The Coot; The Bandicoot

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.”
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” (I am able).