Canada Goose SWIMMING BIRDS. 



Female: Dingy brown, some white on the sides of head, below dirty 



white. Dark feet ; bill not swollen. 

 Season : Fall migrant, staying well into winter. 

 Breeds : From Labrador northward. 

 Range : Coasts and larger lakes of northern North America ; south, 



in winter, to New Jersey, the Great Lakes, and California. 



This Coot has no beauty of plumage either in male or 

 female, is wonderfully tough and inedible, and is often 

 sold by unscrupulous gunners to ignorant housewives as 

 Black Duck. I know of a young housekeeper who bought 

 a pair under these circumstances. The difficulties began 

 when the Coots were plucked, every feather offering sepa- 

 rate resistance. The legs and wings seemed held firm by 

 brass rivets, and were immovable, and the cook made scep- 

 tical remarks, which, however, passed unheeded. But when 

 the " Black Ducks " appeared nicely browned on the table, 

 the illusion was broken ; it was impossible to carve them ; 

 even the breast yielded only a creaking chip. The next 

 day the dog tried one of them, and used it as a plaything 

 for some time, shaking it, and occasionally giving it a hope- 

 less gnaw. Then it was removed with the swill, being still 

 intact, and the man cut it in half with an axe, to see if it 

 could be done. 



All this unscientific research goes to prove that the Amer- 

 ican Coot is a strongly built and most muscular bird, and 

 that his use in the world is best known to himself, but that 

 as a table delicacy he is a failure, and that in one household 

 the mention of his name is prohibited. 



SUB-FAMILY ANSERINE: GEESE. 

 Canada Goose: Branta canadensis. 



Wild Goose. 



PLATE 76. 



Length : 3 feet or more. 



Male and Female : Dark ash ; head, neck, and tail black ; cheeks 

 and throat white ; bill and feet black. Short, rounded tail of 

 pointed feathers. Wings dark brownish, with paler edges. 

 Below a dirty white. Bill and feet black. Female paler. 

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