132 WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 



Coot: Fuliea americana.'^—y^^h.WQ the coot — recognized always by 

 its slaty body, black head, and white bill, as by it 3 lond and varied 

 cackling talk — is not a common bird in the park, and neither Mr. 

 Bryant nor Air. Stevenson have found its nests, there are records 

 from a number of localities on the lower edges of the park — notably 

 Sherburne Lake, the Lower St. Mary, Browning, and Belly River 

 on the east, and Lake INIcDonald, Camas Lake, Mud Lake, and the 

 North Fork of the Flathead on the west. 



When at Lake McDonald April -21, 1918, Mr. Bailey found coots 

 numerous, " often in flocks of from twenty to a hundred." On the 

 next day, when the lake was rough, only two were seen, and these 

 were " up under the bushes on the shore running about like quail." 



Order LIMICOL^: Shorebirds. 



Family PHALAROPODID^: Phalaropes. 



Northern Phalarope : Loh'ifes lohatus. — Mr. Br^^ant reports that 

 the northern phalaropes are seen in fall on the high lakes. Minia- 

 ture ducks, as they have been called, the dainty little gray and white 

 birds may be known by their slender necks, delicate forms, and the 

 habit of spinning around or darting to right and left to pick up 

 insects from tlie surface of the water. 



Family RECURVIROSTRID^: Avocets, etc. 



Avocet: /?'( inrhosfra ainericana. — ]Mr. Bryant and ]Mr. Gibb have 



both seen the large, pale 

 \ cinnamon and white Avo- 



cet. with its long slender 

 recurved bill, during mi- 

 * gration ; and Mr. Bryant 



says that while it is rare, 



Ic' it visits the prairie 



v. TT ^K I f T, , f *^ w . T, -. ^ «. . patches along the North 



From Handbook of Birds of th(' W estorn United States. ■>- ~ 



Fio. 39.— Avocet. Fork of tliB Flathead. 



Family SCOLOPACIDJE: Snipe, Sandpipers, etc. 



Wilson Snipe : GalUnago delk-ata.—On June 11, 1895. :Mr. A. H. 

 Howell found the Wilson or jack snipe six miles west of Browning, 

 and Mr. Bryant thinks it breeds in the park; so its probings — holes 

 in the soft mud — should be carefully looked for in swamps and 

 meadows. As it feeds largely at night and is so protectively 

 striped that it is well hidden in the grass in the day time, it may 

 easily l)e overlooked unless almost stepped on, wlien it springs into 

 the air and darts off with baffling zigzag flight. Its song, erratic as 

 its flight, is often given high in air from rapidly vibrating wings. 



