108 THE OREGON NATURALIST. 
This stone when first dug out is hard bur 
when lying exposed to the weather it some times 
softens and it is then that we can get the ;erfect 
shells, otherwise it would be impossible. — Tas 
Zaphrentis and Terebratula are tie most plea- 
Zaphrentis daler and Ziparcnct 
| 
D fees 
tiful and 
cliffordany are the most common. 
iong to the fossil corals and are of tie S ib- 
carboniferous period. Of the Gasteronods I 
found Waticopsis madisonensts and Pfeurocto- 
Paese 
maria adlams?, 
The fossil I most prized [ found soul ol 
La Salle, Ill. in the Prenton where it meetsih: 
Limestone, it resembles some what a [iy not 
being able to classify it fiom any work on 
Geology in my possession it is now in the hinds 
of the Curator of Geology ef the Ficl! Maus sum 
of Chicago for isstivalion: T asu f wine 
specimens of Myttin nuesalaar A ere) ; 
chesherensis, hoe Sp nensok 27F a tirs Lo 
and Mornticulopora, COMMON ¥ 
locahty tand corsa} Plyese a yeoman nee 
Mollusk family. Anthowul Molius a are | 
into three orders: first, Bry satis 
(from the Grek drr-tiad, aia, aglp re 
with a. bivalve shell Ssunnuso midomi oomy 
second, Ascidions, which fave no dies! s seis 
and hence are hardly vecoyaiz-1 as fos 
third, Bryozoans (fromthe Gres (a, ids, 
and zoow animal,) of mnut- size, some wns 
branched like moss. 
These fossils are the remains of animals that 
were in existence thousands of veirs ago, an | 
as the shellsin onestrata of rock are different 
from those in the next; it is conclusive evidence 
that there were a clifferent class of animals and 
shells in each era. To place these in their 
proper class and thus determine the era ini 
which they existed is the study of the student 
in Geology. 
In all of Natures handiwork is shown. the 
ever living guiding hand of the Omnipotcn:. 
L. B. ALLEY recently foun | a large sone 
knife, 14 inches long, while spading in his gar 
den near Nehalem, Oregon. oO 
THE AMERICAN COOT AND NEST. 
THE AMERICAN COOT. 
Habitat, whole of Nort! America, south to 
Mexico, Central and South America and West 
Indies; north to Alaska, occasionally to Green- 
land. 
Well known as Mud Hen. Crow Duck and 
Hell D-ver. 
tris eastly (lstiaguishe | bv its slate colors! 
plumige, wire or fleshscolored bill, marked 
with reddish-bac< neu the end and at the 
base of fronta) plate, greenish legs ind carmine 
irls. . 
The Coot, Audlica wmericana, 1s well repre- 
sented in and around Ashtibula County, the 
Grand 
Lake Erie |eing its favorite resorts. 
River and small marshes bordering 
My sketch isa true one, not very re nark- 
able or exciting, but the time we had was 
immense. Our party composed of two boys 
and two girls, Miss Flora Fitch, of Jefferson, 
and Miss Grace Babcock, Stanley Spring and 
myself, residents of that village in northeastern 
Ohio: ‘‘Model Geneva.” 
The month was September and Mr. Coot, 
was the one who suffered, not from my gun, 
but by the destructive fire of Miss Babcock, 
she being the only one who seemed to make 
any impression on the ‘‘Hell Divers.” 
—_— 
