American Coot. 325 



admit of a distinct movement to eacli toe and yet adapt 

 the foot to swimming. By this arrangement the birds 

 can perch on the reed stems, and it is said that they can 

 sprint rapidly on land. I have seen them run over the 

 floating vegetation and convenient lily pads in their 

 resorts. Examining our specimen further, we note the 

 milky whiteness of the bill and its strong contrast to the 

 dark background of the head and other parts. The upper 

 mandible has a projecting base upon the forepart of the 

 head, of the same structure as the bill, forming a frontal 

 plate or shield characteristic of the coots and gallinules. 

 Like the grebes, the coots have a mere tuft of short feath- 

 ers for a tail, and short wings, though they fly much bet- 

 ter and with less reluctance than the grebes. 



After the nesting period, which extends through June 

 and sometimes even into July, the birds congregate more 

 in the open areas, resorting less to their reedy coverts. 

 After they lead their younglings from the browned and 

 bent tangle of stems, they rarely return to them except to 

 shelter their brood at night in their infant weakness. The 

 young, like ducks, are able to swim as soon as they are 

 hatched, and have no further use for the nest. It is an 

 interesting and pretty sight to watch a mother followed 

 upon the open water by ten or a dozen little coal-black 

 forms, gayly decked with orange-red and white about the 

 head and upper parts. The downy little creatures glide 

 over the smooth water as lightly as the proud, anxious 

 mother ahead of them. If they linger in childish assump- 

 tion or playfully to try their powers, she anxiouslj^ turns 

 and waits for them to gain her side before continuing her 

 course. 



The swamp- lakes frequently become dry before the 

 close of summer, and then the coots are compelled to seek 

 their food elsewhere, generally along the margins of the 

 rivers; and they are said to feed sometimes on land, 

 either by night or day. The surface of the water in the 

 swamp-lakes is rich in minute animal life suited to the 

 needs of the coots, and the vegetable life is no less varied 

 and abundant. The birds pick up floating snails and 

 various species of aquatic insects, as well as young frogs 

 in diff'erent stages, worms, and other low forms of life 



