152 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The Sea Coots are birds of the ocean and the 

 larger lakes of the interior during the period of 

 their sojourn in the United States. Now and 

 then a few may be seen on some of the more 

 important rivers, but one need not look for them 

 on small ponds and in marshes where many other 

 wild Ducks love to dwell. 



From the studies which economic ornithol- 

 ogists have made of their feeding habits we 

 learn that about 8o per cent, of the food of 

 coastwise specimens consists of mussels which 

 they procure by diving. They also eat peri- 

 winkles, algse, and eel-grass. The flesh of few, 

 if any, birds whose diet consists largely of fish 

 or shell-fish is really palatable ; and it would 

 seem that this fact alone would protect the Scoter 

 from gunners. Nevertheless they are extensively 

 shot, particularly where the supply of other 

 Ducks is not very great. This is partially true 

 along the New England coast. 



Here they are hunted in a communal fashion. 

 The gunners of a locality agree on a day when 

 they will go Coot shooting. At least fifteen or 

 twenty boats must go, if success is to be attained. 

 The boats are anchored in line ofifshore from 

 some headland that separates two bays where the 

 birds are accustomed to feed, and are stationed at 

 a distance of about one hvmdred yards from 

 each other. All this is done very early in the 

 morning for by sunrise the companies of Coots 

 will begin to pass. They fly swiftly and the man 

 who secures many must be a good shot. 



.Speaking of the Scoter as an article of food, 

 Walter H. Rich in Feathered Ciaiiie of the 

 Northeast says: 



" They are unusually tough customers either 

 in life or at the table. Most of our cooks be- 

 lieve it impossible to so prepare this bird as to 

 make it decent food for any but a starving man. 

 The best recipe I have seen runs somewhat as 

 follows : First, skin your fowl and let it parboil 

 in saleratus water at least one day, or until it 

 can be dented with a fairly sharp ax. If your 

 courage holds out, the game is now ready to stuff 

 and bake as you would any other Duck, except 

 that you must put enough onions into its inside 

 to take away all Coot flavor. Arriving at this 

 stage of proceeding there are two lines of retreat 

 yet open to you ; either throw your delicate mor- 

 sel away or give it to someone against whom you 

 hold an ancient grudge — on no account should 

 you try to eat it." 



The summer home of the Surf Scoter is in the 

 Far North ; none is known to rear its young in 

 the United States. Those occasionally found 

 within our borders in summer are either cripples, 

 as the result of winter shooting, or are non- 

 breeding individuals. Audubon describing a nest 

 he found in Labrador writes that it was hidden 

 among tall grasses and raised about four inches 

 above the ground. It was made of weeds and 

 lined with down of the bird in a manner similar 

 to the nest of the Eider Duck. 



T. Gilbert Pearson. 



RUDDY DUCK 



Erismatura jamaicensis iGineliii) 



.•\. O. U. Number 167 See Color I'l.-ite 10 



Other Names. — Dumpling Duck ; Daub Duck ; Deaf 

 Duck : Fool Duck ; Sleepy Duck ; Butter Duck ; Brown 

 Diving Teal ; Widgeon Coot ; Creek Coot ; Sleepy 

 Coot ; Booby Coot ; Ruddy Diver ; Dun Diver ; .Sleepy 

 Brother; Butter-ball; Batter-scoot; Blatherskite; Bum- 

 blebee Coot; Quill-tailed Coot; Heavy-tailed Coot; 

 Stiff-tail; Pin-tail; Bristle-tail; Sprig-tail; Stick-tai! ; 

 .Spine-tail ; Dip-tail ; Diver ; Dun-bird ; Dumb-bird ; 

 Mud-dipper ; Spoon-billed Butter^ball ; Spoonbill ; 

 Broad-billed Dipper; Dipper; Dapper; Dopper ; Broad- 

 bill; Blue-bill; Sleepy-head; Tough-head; Hickory- 

 head; Steel-head; Hard-headed Broad-bill; Bull-neck; 

 Leather-back ; Paddy-whack ; Stub-and-twist ; Light- 

 wood-knot ; Shot-pouch ; Water-partridge ; Dinky ; 

 Dickey; Paddy; Noddy; Booby; Rook; Roody ; Gray 

 Teal ; Salt-water Teal ; Stifif-tailed Widgeon. 



General Description. — Length, 16 inches. Males are 



red above and white below ; females are brownish-gray 

 above and grayish below. Both sexes have the fore- 

 head rather low ; the neck thick ; the bill long and broad 

 and curving upward, but tip overhanging and curved 

 downward ; and the tail composed of 18 stiff feathers, 

 often spiny-pointed. 



Color. — .'VnuLT M.vle in Spring : Forehead, crown, 

 sides of head to below eye and nape, dusky-black; face, 

 lores, chin, and sides of head, pure white; neck all 

 around, upper parts, and sides, rich glossy chestnut; 

 lower parts, silvery-white, " watered " with dusky ; wing- 

 coverts, primaries, and tail, blackish-brown ; under 

 wing-coverts, white; bill and feet, rather bright bluish- 

 gray, latter with dusky webs ; iris, brown ; eyelids, 

 bluish. M.'^LE IN Fall, and Adult Fem.\le: Upper 

 parts, brownish-gray, spotted and traversed with dusky; 

 below, pale gray and whitish, with darker transverse 



