AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 
bo 
ito} 
U. have adopted the appellation rail instead of crake 
used by Dr. Coues. Now it is very desirable that we 
should have generic names as precise as possible. Why 
not translate Porzana (Coturnicops was then included un- 
der Porzana) as crake and Rallus rail?” 
No. 964. Male. 10 mi. S. of Greensboro. Dec. 19, 1891. W. C. 
Avery. 
38. FULICA AMERICANA (Gmelin). 
Coot. 
In 1886 Dr. Avery published an article in the “Orni- 
thologist and Oologist” entitled, ‘“Migration of the Coot,” 
and four years later used much of the same material in 
his list which appeared in the “American Field.” How- 
ever, it is considered worth while to republish here both 
notes in full. 
“A fact relative to the migration of the coot (Fulica 
americana), known here by the French name, Poule-d’ 
eau, may, perhaps, be worth recording. About the mid- 
dle of April, 1885, as I was going out of the house, at sun- ~ 
rise, my attention was attracted to a bird sitting within 
a few feet of the porch. It proved to be a coot. Instead 
of trying to escape, as any other bird would have done, 
when I extended my hand to catch it, the poule-de’eau 
showed fight. I confined it in a chicken-coop in the 
yard, and supplied it with some corn-bread and water. 
If it ever ate or drank while in my possession, I was not 
aware of the fact. It took, to my knowledge, neither 
food nor water. It seemed to spend every minute of the 
day and night in perpetual motion. Its efforts were not 
in vain. 
“Omnia vincit improbus labor,’ was, doubtless, the 
motto of my prisoner. By thrusting the head and neck 
through every opening within reach, the restless bird at 
last forced off a slat and recovered its freedom. On the 
third day after it had been placed in ‘durance vile,’ I 
saw it standing on top of its prison pluming itself. I 
advanced towards it, expecting to capture it again. Imag- 
ine my surprise when it rose on strong pinions, flying 
high and going in a northerly direction, as far as I could 
see it. This was not the first time that I had seen in 
