6l2 



THE AMERICAN COOT. 



General Range. — Xortli Anu-rica fmni (irceiilaiul ami Alaska suutliwanl to 

 the West Indies and \'erai;ua. 



Range in Washington. — ConinKm suniiiier resident and migrant l)nth sides 

 of the Cascade .Munnlains; sparingly resident in winter on I'uget Smnid. 



Authorities. — |l,e\\i^ and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Diddle; Coues. \'ol. 

 11. p. I'H I Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. i860, p. 247. T. C&S. 

 Kh. 1)'. Kh. Kk. J. 1'.. E. 



Specimens.— ( L'. of W. ) Prov. P". 1!. E. 



WHEN a canvas canoe ])fopelIed by a dotible-bladed paddle grows big 

 ti])on the horizon anrl then brushes noisily against the weedy outpost of sonie 

 tule swamp, an ominous hush falls o\-er the scene, a silence broken only b\- 

 the rustling of the arum tops. \'ou saw birds from the distance, but every 

 man Jack of them has tied. The reeds will tell no tales. Presently a Grebe 

 relic\'es the tension b\- snorting — that is the word — then di\-es suddenly to 

 (juench his ill-timed mirth; ne.xt a leaden figure steals from behind a distant 

 clump of rei'ds rind gl;iiices lliis \\a\- and thai a]iprehensi\'ely. Tt is onl\- a man 



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'a' 



Photo by the Author. 



MID REEDY HAUNTS OF COOT /XND HERN. 



