362 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



crown is but thinly covered with hairlike black down; the upper 

 parts are thickly covered with glossy black, long, coarse down, mixed 

 with long, hairlike filaments, which vary in color from "orange 

 chrome" on the neck and wings to "Ught orange-yellow" on the back; 

 the lores, chin, and throat are covered with short, stiff, curly hairs, 

 varying in color from "flame scarlet" to "orange chrome"; the bill 

 is "flame scarlet," with a black tip; the under parts are thickly cov- 

 ered with dense, furlike down, very dark gray to almost black, with, 

 whitish tips. 



While raising young ducks and coots from the eggs in Manitoba 

 we had a good chance to study their development. The young coot 

 grows rapidly, especially the feet and legs, which soon seem out of 

 proportion; but it is slow in assuming its plumage. The first, light 

 grayish plumage appears on the breast when the bird is about 4 weeks 

 old and about one-third grown; it is still covered with dark, sooty 

 gray down and the orange hairs have not wholly disappeared. The 

 wings do not start to grow until the young bird is 6 weeks old and 

 the plumage is not complete until it is at least 2 months old. In 

 this full Juvenal plumage the upper parts vary from " hair brown" ta 

 "chaetura drab" more brownish on the back; the chin, throat and 

 neck are "deep neutral gray," mottled with grayish white; and the 

 under parts are mottled with neutral grays and whitish. 



During the fall and winter a gradual molt of the contour plumage 

 produces steady progress towards maturity; but traces of immatur- 

 ity persist all through the first year; young birds have much more 

 white in the under parts, chin, throat, and belly, and they have not 

 yet developed the wliite bill and frontal shield. The young bird 

 becomes practically adult after the first postnuptial molt, when over 

 a year old. Adults have a complete molt in August and September 

 and a very limited, partial prenuptial molt in the early spring. 



Food. — The coot is quite omnivorous, living on a varied bill of fare 

 at different seasons. Most of its food is obtained on, under, or near 

 the water of its marshy haunts; but it is no uncommon sight to see 

 it walking about on the marshy shores or even on dry land picking 

 up its food in a lively fashion after the manner of domestic fowl. 

 Sometimes far from the water it may be seen in flocks clipping off 

 the green grasses in the meadows or puUing up the sprouting grain 

 on cultivated land. It feeds largely on the leaves, fronds, seeds and 

 roots of aquatic vegetation, such as pond weed (Potamogeton) , the 

 tops of water milfoil ( Myriophyllum) and the seeds of bur reed {Spar- 

 ganium). Much of this food must be obtained by diving to moder- 

 ate depths, at which it is an expert. It is very fond of wild celery, 

 some of which it steals from the canvasbacks and other ducks. In 

 the great duck shooting resorts of Virginia and North CaroUna coots 

 congregate in enormous numbers in winter to feed on wild celery and 



