BIRDS OF INDIANA. 685 



Nest, of marsh vegetation, attached to reeds, afloat in water like a 

 Grebe's or on ground. Eggs, 6-15; dull buff, with fine dots of dark 

 brown or black; 1.74 by 1.19. 



Common migrant. Northward summer resident. Locally very com- 

 mon. It may sometimes, favorable winters, winter southward. 



Usually their period of migration begins in March, but some years 

 they do not reach the northern part of the State until after the first 

 of April. The following dates give the time of first appearance at 

 Brookville for a series of years: 1881, April 25; 1882, April 18; 1883, 

 April 3; 1884, March 12; 1886, April 3; 1887, March 31; 1888, March 



Frontal Plate of a Coot. 



26; 1889, March 28; 1896, April 4. The latest date noted, same local- 

 ity, was May 16, 1884. The variation in northern Indiana is as 

 marked. The first one seen at Waterloo in 1896 was April 5; in 1897, 

 March 20 (Feagler). The first seen at Laporte in 1893 was April 1; 

 in 1894, March 16 (Barber). Usually, however, the early birds are 

 a very few of the advance guards, and the majority cannot be de- 

 pended upon to arrive for from one to three weeks later. It was com- 

 mon at Waterloo April 6, 1896, and not until April 9, 1897. It was 

 common at Laporte in 1893 April 10, and April 1, 1894. As with 

 some other species of retiring, marsh-loving birds, it is often reported 

 from its favorite localities northward before it has been seen farther 

 south. In 1891 a single bird was seen at English Lake, February 14 

 and 15. In 1892 a pair were seen there March 6, and they were 

 numerous March 20. In 1894 about a dozen were noted March 7 and 



