2o8 WATER FOWL. 



the bottom, and if an oar can be made to reach it, by re- 

 peated pushes it can be compelled to release its hold, 

 when it usually rises to the surface, though sometimes it 

 will swim to another clump of grass and hang on to that. 



This species utters a long musical whistle, and it can 

 often be distinguished by this note from the other Ducks 

 in the vicinity. In windy weather these birds fly very 

 low over the water, and if disturbed by a passing boat, 

 when resting on the surface, if they rise at all, it will be 

 to fly for only a short distance, and then drop with a 

 splash, and usually dive at once if the object of their 

 alarm is near. In calm weather they fly very high, espe- 

 cially when migrating. They mate, as do many of the 

 Water Fowl, before the spring migration begins, and the 

 male will often be seen following the female closely about 

 whenever she is upon the wing. Should anything hap- 

 pen to her he frequently returns to seek her, but if he is 

 the sufferer she pays no attention to him, but continues 

 on her way with apparent indifference. 



This Duck has many names, the best known being, 

 Black Coot, Whistling Coot, Butter-billed, and Hollow- 

 billed Coot, while the female is called Gray and Brown 

 Coot. There are quite a number of other names, many 

 of them purely local. The color of the eggs is a pinkish 

 ivory white. The male of this Duck, while arrayed in a 

 melancholy dress of intense black, has one brilliant spot, 

 in the place that would be most suspicious and unattrac- 

 tive in man, but which is all right in a bird, viz. : around 

 and behind the nostrils. The basal part of the bill bulges 

 up and is a bright orange, slightly paler above. This bit 

 of color relieves the appearance of what would be other- 

 wise a gloomy and somber-looking creature. As a bird 

 for the table, the adults of this species, like those of the 

 two succeeding, are abominable. 



