THE AMERICAN COOT. 



CIENCE, in its classifica- 

 tion and naming of birds, 

 has rendered it quite easy 

 for any one to recognize 

 unmistakably anywhere 

 any specimen we have pictured in our 

 magazine. In some sections this inter- 

 esting Duck is known as the Mud-hen, 

 in others the Crow Duck, in still others 

 as the Ivory-billed Mud-hen, but with 

 the picture in hand or in mind, one need 

 never call the bird by any other than 

 its correct name, the American Coot. 

 The European Coot resembles it, but 

 its average size is slightly larger, its 

 habits, however, being in all repects 

 like those of its American relative. 

 Davie says that this is the water fowl 

 that the young sportsman persists in 

 shooting as a game bird, but at a riper 

 age he does not "hanker" after its 

 flesh. 



The habitat of the Coot is very 

 extensive, covering the whole of North 

 America, middle America, and the West 

 Indies; north to Greenland and Alaska, 

 south to Veragua and Trinidad. 



The Coot is a summer resident in 

 large marshes, and is not often rare in 

 any marshy situation. It arrives the 

 last of April and remains until the last 

 of November. It nests at the same 

 time as the Florida Gallinule (see 

 BIRDS, Vol. I, p. 121,) but shows a 

 greater preference for reed patches, 

 in which its nests are usually located, 

 often in from two to four feet of water. 

 The nests are generally larger than 

 those of Gallinules, and rarely com- 

 posed of other material than the dry 

 stalks of reeds and grasses. They are 

 placed on the ground, just out of the 

 water or on floating vegetation. Some 

 times immense numbers of Coots breed 

 together. The eggs are clay or creamy- 

 white, uniformly and finely dotted all 

 over with specks of dark brown and 

 black. From six to twelve eggs have 



been found in a nest. As winter 

 approaches and the marshes and shallow 

 pools become covered with ice, these 

 birds congregate in immense flocks on 

 the rivers and small lakes, and 

 remain until cold weather closes the 

 streams. 



Mr. Nelson says the Coot has a 

 curious habit when approached by a 

 boat in a stream, rising often before 

 the boat is within gunshot, and flying 

 directly by the boatman, generally so 

 near that it may be easily brought 

 down. The abundance of Ducks and 

 other game birds has caused the mem- 

 bers of this family to be but little 

 molested, until within a few years, 

 when amateur sportsmen, finding 

 Ducks difficult to obtain, and 

 " Mud-hens," as Coots and Gallinules 

 are called, conveniently tame, have 

 turned their batteries upon them 

 and diminished their numbers about 

 many marshes. In the more retired 

 marshes, however, they still breed 

 abundantly. These birds differ from 

 the Gallinules in being social, going 

 in flocks, and in preferring the open 

 water. They sport and rest on musk- 

 rat houses and bare places of land and 

 dress their feathers there. During 

 the breeding season they keep near 

 their reedy cover, into which they 

 quickly swim and hide, in case of 

 danger. They swim and walk with 

 a nodding motion of the head. 

 They are not expert divers, but 

 go to the bottom when closely- 

 pressed and unable to fly. The flesh 

 of the Coot is dark and not good eating, 

 and its feathers are not soft and downy ; 

 it is, therefore, not sought after by the 

 pot hunter, nor considered a game bird 

 by the sportsman, for which reasons, 

 as well as the fact that the feathers 

 cannot be used by the ladies for per- 

 sonal adornment, the birds are not shy 

 and are easily approached. 



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