298 The Water-fowl Family 



sedge. If the haunts are carefully watched, the 

 birds will be seen occasionally to emerge and run 

 about the exposed shore, watchful all the time, 

 darting back into the grass at the slightest provo- 

 cation. The food consists of various seeds and 

 snails, but the flesh is not particularly good. 

 North of South Carolina this species is more 

 or less irregular, but breeds commonly in the 

 marshes of northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, 

 and about Lake Ontario. 



AMERICAN COOT 

 * iFidica america7id) 



Adult male and female — Head and neck and anterior central por- 

 tion of crissum, black ; lateral and posterior portions of crissum, 

 edge of wing, and tips of secondaries, white ; rest of plumage, 

 slate color ; bill, white, becoming bluish at the end ; both 

 mandibles, with a dark brown spot near the ends, bordered 

 anteriorly with a less distinct bar of chestnut ; frontal shield, 

 dark brown ; the culmen, just in front, tinged with yellow ; iris, 

 bright hazel ; legs, yellowish green ; the tibiae, tinged behind 

 and above with orange ; toes, bluish gray, tinged with green 

 on scutallae and basal phalanges. In winter the lower parts are 

 paler. 



Measurements — Length, 14 inches ; wing, 7.50 inches ; culmen, 1.25 

 inches; tarsus, 2 inches. 



Voting — Similar but paler ; throat, white ; rest of lower parts tipped 

 with whitish ; head, slate color, speckled with whitish ; iris, 

 brown ; bill, dull flesh color, tinged with greenish ; frontal 

 shield, rudimentary. 



Downy young — Ground color, blackish ; the downy feathers pro- 

 longed in slender bristles, which are pale orange on back and 

 breast, reddish orange on neck and chin, and whitish on rest of 

 body ; occiput, bare ; rest of crown, black without bristles ; lores 



