THE AMERICAN COOT. 615 
hour later preening their feathers on a gravelly shoal and discussing, doubt- 
less, their thrilling experience. 
Every one is familiar with the shuffling manner in which a Coot ris 
from the water, floundering and kicking to get up steam; then lumbering off 
at a low height only to splash down again at what it supposes a safe distance. 
Under the spell of persecution the birds learn to get up more nimbly, and 
Taken in Douglas County Photo 
A HATFUL OF SPECKLED EGGS 
once under way prove to be not ungraceful flyers. In flight they carry their 
legs at full length behind them, and seem to use them quite cleverly as a rud- 
der, to supply the deficiencies of the abbreviated tail. 
Youthful slayers of “‘mud-hens” there will always be, but it is fortunate 
that the creatures have not yet been taken seriously as game birds hereabouts, 
as they have East and South, where the legitimate objects of the chase are 
