2 88 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



When in our waters the coots are usually silent birds, but sometimes utter 

 a low Jdiick, and when gathered in numliers they engage m a confused gal)- 

 bling and clattering. 



The Coot's nest is a mass of flags and dead vegetation, but resembles 

 the grebe's more than the gallinule's in location, being built up in the 

 shallow water in a slight opening among the flags. The eggs are from 8 to 

 1 6 in number, of a buffy white, minutely and unitormly dotted with blackish 

 brown and obscure tints, sometimes in larger blotches; average size 1.9 

 X 1.32 inches. 



This is the Mud hen, Meadow hen. Water hen. Crow bill. Hen bill, 

 Crow duck. Blue peter or White-billed mud hen of the gunners. Its flesh, 

 though palatable, is inferior to that of the Sora and our better ducks. 



Order LIMICOLAB 



Plover, Snipe etc. 



Order Charadriiformes, Sharpe's Hand-List 



Small, or medium sized; bih with a soft skin covering more or less of 

 the basal portion, grooved from the base to the hardened terminal ]3ortion; 

 nostrils open slits in the m.embraneous basal jjortions; legs normally long 

 and slender, and scutellate, at least in front; tibia usualh" bare for some 

 distance; front toes, at least the middle and outer, usually connected at 

 the base with a small web; hind toe smaher and elevated, or wanting; 

 claws small, sharp and slightly curved ; wings normally long, flat and ])ointed, 

 the outer primaries longest, the inner secondaries elongated, giving the 

 extended wing a V-shaped appearance; tail rather short, stiff, broad and 

 rounded. Cervical vertebrae 15, cervico-dorsals 2, dorsals 5 to 6; palate 

 schizognathous ; nasals schizorhinal. 



Most members of this order prefer the shore, tnud flats, or open 

 marshes, and feed on mollusks, crustaceans and insects in the mud or along 

 the moist strand. They nest upon the ground. The eggs are usually 

 fuur in number, well spotted or blotched with dark colors, which renders 

 them quite inconspicuous among the grass or pebbles. The }'Oung are 

 i:)recocious and covered with a soft gra>- or buff}- down marked with blackish, 

 and lie ([uite flat and still when approached, to escape being seen Ijy their 

 enemies. Manv of the species are gregarious in habit and perform extensi\-e 



