96 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



is so constructed that should the water rise it will float 

 higher but will not leave its moorings, but should the 

 water dry up it will settle softly on the bottom. Some- 

 times where the water has gone down these nests are found 

 several yards from the shore, but as they usually build 

 farther out from shore than most marsh-nesting birds this 

 is not apt to happen. 



The nest is about a foot in diameter and is just saucer 

 shaped enough on top to hold the eggs, this saucer being 

 lined with fine grass. They lay from nine to fourteen eggs, 

 slightly tinted with brown and minutely speckled all over 

 with black or dark brown. They are so near the color of 

 the nest in which they lie that it is hard to see them at a 

 distance of a few yards. 



This bird does not brood her eggs closely as do many 

 birds. If one approaches where she is brooding she 

 scrambles off the nest, runs a few yards and then rises 

 into the air with a tremendous splatter and often man- 

 ages to appear so badly injured as to lead people on a 

 merry chase until she has led them far away from the 

 nest. 



Coots have a peculiar appearance when on the wing, as 

 they often fly with the bill pointing down and the feet 

 sticking backward and upward. The wings are much 

 broader than tl . wings of a duck, which is a distinguish- 

 ing mark between the two. When the coot alights in the 

 water it makes a splash and when it starts to fly it makes 

 a splatter. In fact, because of this habit, in many places 

 it is known as the splatterer. 



These birds are to be found along the creeks and in 

 the marshes over the northern part of the United States 

 almost from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They migrate late 



