186 CORMORANT. 



for them before daylight, and rake them down, at the 

 gray of a white frosty morning ; or watch them at some 

 distance in the afternoon, and set into them as late in 

 the evening as you can see to level your gun, taking 

 care, if possible, to keep them under the western light. 

 If you think your wounded coots worth collecting, 

 you will find nothing like a double gun to give them 

 the coup-de-grace, as they are sometimes most tor- 

 menting birds to catch with a dog, or kill with a pole. 

 Coots, instead of drawing together before they fly (like 

 geese and many other fowl), always disperse on being 

 alarmed; and as they 'generally fly to windward, the 

 gentlemen's system of wildfowl shooting answers well, 

 which is to embark with a party ; sail down on them ; 

 and, as they cross, luff up and fire all your barrels. 

 When an infant at wild sport, I used to be mightily 

 pleased with this diversion. When on the coast, you 

 may easily distinguish coots from wildfowl, by the 

 scattered extent of their line; their high rumps; their 

 rapid swimming; and their heads being poked more 

 forward. Beware of a winged coot, or he will scratch 

 you like a cat. 



Naturalists have so far agreed, that there are two sorts of coots 

 (the GREATER, and this, the COMMON BALD COOT), that for the 

 one, Linnaeus gives us the name of fulica atra, and Buffon that of 

 la jbulque, QT morrelle; and for the other we find, in the Latin, 

 fulica atterima, and in French, la grande jbulque, or la macroule. 

 But, after all, some consider the one bird a mere variety of the other. 



CORMORANTS 



Have generally some regular evening course to the 

 cliffs, where they roost ; and as theyjly l w towards 

 sunset, they repeatedly balk the young shooter, who 



