366 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



they are driven out by the freezing of the lakes. They gather into 

 immense flocks before leaving and hold noisy conclaves, as if discuss- 

 ing the propriety of departure. On the morning after such a caucus 

 the lake is usually deserted, all having gone during the night. Some- 

 times they Unger too long and may be seen crowded in a dense black 

 mass, perhaps mingled with the hardier ducks, in some unfrozen water 

 hole in the ice. The fall migration takes the coots to southern lakes 

 and even to brackish estuaries near the coasts where they mingle 

 with the ducks and are often shot as game. But they are hardly 

 worthy to be classed as game birds; they are too easy to kill and 

 their flesh is not highly regarded. " Blue Peters," as they are called, 

 are good game for boys and they help fill the pot when other game 

 is scarce. While camping in Florida we often found them a welcome 

 addition to our larder, as they are clean feeders and quite palatable. 

 Winter. — Below the frost line, from California to Florida, coots 

 are very abundant in all suitable lakes, ponds, bayous, marshes, and 

 marshy rivers, all through the winter, where they are highly gregarious. 

 But they are seldom seen on salt water. Mr. Maynard (1896) writes: 



The coots are remarkably abundant in the little ponds and lagoons on the 

 marshes which He to the eastward of Indian River, Florida. Here they have the 

 habit of gathering together in a nearly solid mass in the middle of the body of water 

 on which they float and it is exceedingly difficult to make them leave one of these 

 chosen resorts. Even wh^n shot at those that are uninjured will frequently re- 

 main while those whicli do fly, generally circle around about and after a time re- 

 turn. I remember once of walking along the margin of a narrow creek near Mos- 

 quito Lagoon, with my assistant, when we encountered a large body of coots. 

 At the point where we found them the creek was only about 10 yards wide, and 

 as we could walk faster than the birds could swim, we were soon abreast of them, 

 but although we were so close to them none of them attempted to fly, but as we 

 passed the first portion of the flock, the coots of which it was composed turned 

 and swam back, then, sheeplike, all followed, and we stood still while hundreds 

 of them swam past us. As the birds were crowded together, somewhat, their 

 ranks were quite wide so that the nearest birds were only a few feet away. 



Back Bay, Virginia, is a favorite winter resort for coots where they 

 find an abundant food supply in the seeds and tops of the foxtail 

 grass and other duck foods and where they steal the wild celery from 

 the canvasbacks and redheads. I thought I had seen coots in Florida, 

 but that was as nothing compared with the countless thousands that I 

 saw here in November. There were acres and acres and acres of them 

 spread out over the smooth waters of the bay in vast rafts. They were 

 much tamer than any of the ducks and geese; even these big flocks 

 allowed our power boat to approach almost within gunshot; and then 

 they only pattered or flew away for a short distance and then settled 

 down again, thus making a pathway for us through the vast flocks. 



