396 FEATHERED GAME 



ate-tickling relish of a well tried Gloucester 

 fishing boot. The only way I can manage to 

 eat Coot is to use the breast meat alone, parboil 

 as before, score deeply and broil like a l^eef- 

 steak and season well. A bit of lemon juice 

 squeezed on it will help some, but it is doubtful 

 if one would care to regale one's self with it 

 more than twice a day for any length of time. 

 If the reader must experiment let me recom- 

 mend that he use a young bird in the early fall. 

 This duck is very hard to kill. He can carry 

 off a full charge of shot with no apparent diffi- 

 culty in his working parts, and unless the pel- 

 lets are placed in a vital spot there are few 

 chances of capturing him. If wounded severely 

 or wing-broken he dives at once and continues 

 diving and coming up to fill his air tank, often 

 just putting his nose above water to get his 

 breath and again going under to stay until he 

 has reached a safe distance. Despite his Dutch 

 model and somewhat clumsy appearance he 

 swims fast and well either upon or below the 

 surface, but his worst enemy cannot truthfully 

 accuse him of being a graceful bird ashore, for 

 he is heavy and chunlcy and at best his walk is 

 an awkward ''waddle." How do I know? 



