BIRDS OF 



greenish ; 12-15 l^r^g '• wing, 6^-7^ ; tail, 3^ ; gape of bill, about ij ; tarsus' 

 abont 2. 



Hab. Temperate and tropical America from Canada to Brazil and 

 Chili. 



Nest a mass of broken, rotten reeds and rushes, with a slight hollow in 

 the centre ; it is seldom much above water level and often afloat. 



Eggs 10 to 12 ; brownish-buff, thickly spotted with reddish -brown. 



A common summer resident breeding in suitable places 

 throughout Southern Ontario. Near Hamilton it is quite com- 

 mon, a few pairs generally spending the summer in the Water- 

 down Creek, and also in the Dundas Marsh. Its retired haunts 

 are seldom invaded during the summer months, the mosquitoes 

 being a bar to the intrusion of visitors, and its flesh not being 

 in demand for the table it is not much disturbed. It arrives 

 early in May and leaves toward the end of September. 



Subfamily FULICIN^. 



Genus FULICA Linn.eus. 



80. FULICA AMERICANA Gmel. 221. 



American Coot. 



Dark slate, paler or grayish below, blackening on the head and neck, 

 tinged with olive on the back ; crissum, whole edge of wing, and top of the 

 secondaries white ; bill white or flesh-colored, marked with reddish-black 

 near the end ; feet dull olivaceous ; young similar, paler and duller. Length, 

 about 14 ; wing, 7-8 ; tail, ? ; bill from the gape, i|-i§ ; tarsus, about 2 ; 

 middle toe and claw, about 3. 



Hab. North America, from Greenland and Alaska southward to West 

 Indies and Central America. 



Nest of vegetable rubbish from the marsh, often afloat and fastened to 

 the rushes like the Grebes, but sometimes on dry ground back from the water. 



Eggs 10 to 12 ; clear clay color dotted minutely with dark brown. 



Not so generall}' distributed as the last named species. It 

 breeds abundantly at St. Clair, but at Hamilton is only a 

 migratory visitor in spring and fall. It is a hardy bird, often 

 arriving in spring before the ice is quite away, and again linger- 

 ing late in the fall as if unwilling to depart. They are some- 



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