138 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



are nearer the surface. AVlien wounded it can swim for such long 

 distances under water that its pursuit is almost useless. 



I have never heard any vocal sound from the white- winged scoter, 

 but Dr. Charles W. Townsend has sent me the following notes from 

 E. P. Richardson: 



In regard to the bell note of the white-winged scoter, I have only as much as 

 this to say : On still nights in the fall, when we might be listening for black 

 ducks, we would occasionally hear the rush of a flock of ducks overhead, 

 with an occasional bell-like, low whistle, recurring at intervals in series of 

 six or eight notes, entirely distinct from the rush of wings. The old gunner 

 who took charge of our place at Eastham used to say that these birds were 

 old white wings, and would add, " some call them bell coots." The sound is 

 rather more slowly repeated than the usual wing beat of the black duck, but 

 the impression that it always gave me was that it was produced by the wings 

 and not by the voice of the fowl. At any rate, it is a very clear and distinct 

 sound, a series of low, bell-like sounds which might occur repeated two or 

 three times and then be lacking. These birds were crossing Cape Cod on tiieir 

 fall migration. I have not heard it for some years now, but it used to be a 

 frequent experience. As I said, these birds were going over in the night and we 

 could never, of course, identify them. 



Game. — The time-honored sport of coot shooting has for genera- 

 tions been one of the most popular and important forms of wild- 

 fowl hunting on the New England coast. Next to the black duck, 

 which undoubtedly stands first in the estimation of our sportsmen, 

 there are probably more scoters killed on our coasts than any other 

 of the Anatidae. Aside from the fact that the scoters are not of 

 much value for the table, coot shooting has much to recommend it; 

 it is a rough and rugged sport, testing the strength, endurance, and 

 skill of an experienced boatman ; the birds are strong fliers and hard 

 to kill, requiring the best of marksmanship, under serious difficulties, 

 and hard-shooting guns; during good flights game is almost always 

 within sight, giving the sportsman much pleasant anticipation ; and 

 chances are frequently ofl^ered to show his skill at difficult and long 

 shots. I was born and bred to be a coot shooter, inheriting the in- 

 stinct from three generations ahead of me. and I only wish that I 

 could impart to my readers a small fraction of the pleasure we 

 have enjoyed in following this fascinating sport. 



Rudely awakened at an unseemly hour, soon after midnight it 

 seems, the party of gunners are given an early breakfast before 

 starting out. It is dark as midnight as we grope our way down to 

 the beach, heavily laden with paraphernalia, launch our boats in a 

 sheltered cove among the rocks, and row out onto the ocean. The 

 crisp October air is cool and fresh, as the light northeast wind comes 

 in over the ledges, fragrant with the odors of kelp and rockweed. 

 There is hardly light enough at first to see the line of boats, 

 strung out straight offshore from the jjoint, but soon we find our 



