126 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



particularly of young American and surf scoters. The American 

 scoter is more often seen in fresh-water ponds a few miles back from 

 the coast than are the other two, though all three are often seen on 

 our large inland lakes. 



Game. — From the sportsman's standpoint the American scoter is 

 a more desirable game bird than the other two scoters. The young 

 birds particularly, when they first arrive from their northern feed- 

 ing grounds in the interior, are fatter, more tender, and less strongly 

 flavored than are the others. The value of " coots " as food has been 

 much maligned and in my opinion unjustly; if young and tender 

 birds are selected and if they are properly cooked their flesh is much 

 more palatable than is generally supposed; the popular prejudice 

 against them is largely due to an erroneous impression that they 

 must be parboiled, which is a pernicious practice and will render 

 any oily seaduck unfit for food by saturating the flesh with the oily 

 flavor. There are only two proper ways to cook a sea duck; one is 

 to skin it and broil it ; and the other is to scrape as much oil out of 

 the skin as possible and then roast it quickly in a hot oven, letting 

 the oil run off. 



The Massachusetts method of " coot shooting," in which I have 

 often indulged, is described under another species, so I shall quote 

 from Walter H. Rich (1907) as to the methods employed on the 

 Maine coast ; he writes : 



Probably the least wary of the duck family, they may be approached quite 

 readily as compared with other members of the tribe. Gunners use many 

 methods for capturing the coots, but the greater number are killed over decoys. 

 A string of " tolers " is set in a promising place just off some rocky point or 

 ledge in the deep water, the gunner is well bidden, and if the birds are flying 

 there is every prospect of good shooting, for the coot is one of the best of 

 birds to decoy. Often in the early part of the season, before the birds have 

 become shy from constant peppering, the gunner may set his decoys on a 

 line from his boat, only keeping below the gunwale when the flocks are coming 

 in. And they will come in. I have often seen them fly close enough to be 

 struck with an oar — I may say that they make it an invariable rule to do this 

 when the gunner has taken the shells out of his gun or laid it aside to pick 

 up his decoys after a morning's cootless waiting in the cold. One oddity in 

 the gentle art of duck shooting is the practice of " hollerin' coots " — that is, 

 of making a great noise when a flock is passing by out of shot — when they 

 will often turn and come to the decoys. The report of a gun sometimes has 

 the same effect, but we New Englanders are too thrifty to waste powder 

 and lead where our vocal organs will serve as well. 



Next to decoying, the use of the " gunning float " is the most effective 

 method of killing coots. The " gunning float " is a long, low craft, drawing 

 but little water and showing only a foot or so above the surface when properly 

 trimmed down with ballast. In the fall, for use in the open water, they are 

 " trimmed " with " rockweed " ; in the marshes with " thatch." In the spring 

 and winter months the proper thing is snow and ice to represent a drifting 

 ice cake. It takes sharp eyes to detect the dangerous one among the many 



