CINEREOUS COOT. 385 



they may be seen at all hours of the day, if un- 

 disturbed, hundreds congregated within an acre. 

 Wary, however, to an excess, the distant sight of 

 a man, or the snapping of the twigs beneath his 

 tread, alarms the whole, and away they flutter into 

 the covert, splashing the surface as they go. Yet 

 the noise made by the cattle walking on the shore, 

 or trampling and munching the reeds, as they 

 wade breast-high, has no such effect. The best 

 way to shoot them is to lie very quiet, if the 

 musquitoes will allow you, behind a bush, and 

 take them as they come out, sometimes two or 

 three at a shot; or else to wade in among the 

 reeds, and bring them down as they rise; though 

 sometimes you cannot flush them. A good water 

 dog is indispensable to success. 



As far as my observation goes, the white shield is 

 the mark of mature age: in the young it is dark 

 brown; I have not seen any with the shield wholly 

 white, the upper part still being brown. After 

 having been carried head downward for some time, 

 I found the beak of one, instead of white, livid 

 purple, as if filled with blood. The stomachs 

 usually contain small seeds, and decaying vege- 

 table matter mixed with mud and sand. 



