THE AMERICAN SCOTER 399 



the struggle for existence, though they have a 

 much better chance in that they make us their 

 visits at a time when only the '^ crankiest" of 

 gun cranks would think of braving the cold and 

 hardships of a shooting trip among the outer 

 islands. When a party goes out after "sea 

 ducks ' ' they never know when they will be per- 

 mitted to return. The exposed position of the 

 haunts of their game sometimes makes a return 

 to the mainland impossible for days if a storm 

 comes up; therefore winter shooting is not so 

 much followed. 



The Coots are found in both the New and the 

 Old World. 



The Butter-billed Coot, or American Scoter, 

 will probably average the smallest of our Coots, 

 though but little smaller than the ' ' Patch-head. ' ' 

 In most localities the present species is the 

 least common of the three; a lover of ''blue 

 water," seldom coming into the narrow arms 

 of the sea or tide-water, and only rarely taken 

 on the Great Lakes where his cousins, the 

 "Patch-head" and "White-winged" are not un- 

 common. In habits, breeding haunts and range 

 of migration the three do not differ materially, 

 on the eastern half of the continent the larger 



