1 62 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



of the Peabody Academy, viz., a female taken at Rowley, on October 14th, 

 1873, by G. P. Osgood; a specimen taken at Salem, October 25th, 1873, by 

 George Stone; and a third labeled Essex County, October, 1900. There is 

 also a specimen in the mounted collection of Mr. William Brewster that was 

 killed in Boxford, late in the spring of 1884, and mounted by Welch, who 

 thought the bird was breeding. The fifth specimen is in the collection of 

 Mr. E. M. Haskell, of Ipswich, and was taken by him, in company with Mr. 

 Welch, at Lynn, in October, 1881. 



On September 20th, 1904, I saw in the Topsfield marshes, a bird started 

 up from the reeds, that resembled an American Coot in plumage, but was con- 

 siderably smaller. On October ist, Mr. Julian M. Dodge succeeded in shooting 

 what was probably the same bird and it proved to be a Florida Gallinule. 

 Mr. Dodge kindly gave it to me and it is now in my collection. 



89 [221] Fulica americana Gmel. 

 American Coot ; "Mud-hen " ; " Pond Crow " ; " Blue Peter." 



Transient visitor, rare in the spring, common in the autumn ; March 3 1 to 

 April 1 5 ; September 3 to November 7. 



Mr. J. A. Farley tells me that old gunners claimed that this bird formerly 

 bred in Georgetown. The American Coot is more common in small ponds and 

 reedy marshes than in the large ponds, and is only rarely found in the salt 

 marshes. It occurs singly and in small flocks of five or six. It is a powerful 

 swimmer. It rides lightly the water, strikes out vigorously with the feet and 

 at the same time nods the head and neck in a dove-like manner. Anon it 

 stands up in the water and flaps its wings like a Duck, displaying in so doing 

 the white tips of its secondaries. It picks daintily at the lily-pads and grasses, 

 biting off the later, or plunges its head under water to feed. It is an active 

 diver and often goes under water with very little effort ; at other times it leaps 

 clear of the water like a Grebe, with its wings pressed close to its sides, its body 

 describing an arc, and the head entering as the feet leave the water. As its 

 legs are so strong and muscular and its wings so comparatively feeble, it seems 

 probable that like the Grebe it progresses under water by the use of the legs 

 alone, but I have never observed it under water. In rising from the water it 

 often has considerable difficulty and patters along the surface for some distance. 

 Its call note is a loud cackle. 



The chief field mark is the short, pointed, white bill which contrasts 



