WADING BIRDS 195 



hairs growing out from the neck, and are baldheaded. At 

 first they are rather feeble, but they soon become nimble, 

 and are exceedingly tame. They have a raucous voice, and 

 use it vigorously in demanding food, running at the care- 

 taker with insistent shrieks, pecking his hands or feet, and 

 fairly mobbing him. We raised them with the ducks, and, 

 bold as these were, the coots were always in the forefront 

 and got all that was coming to them. They have sharp 

 bills, and in one or two cases hurt small ducklings, though 

 usually they were harmless. All in all they were very 

 amusing. They thrived on the same food as the young 

 ducks, though they were a little harder to start at the very 

 first, owing to their small size. 



When they are grown up they swim in the pond with the 

 ducks, and are treated as part of the flock. They are hardy, 

 and stand winter weather in the open as well as the ducks. 

 Now and then I see a few in collections of waterfowl on 

 private estates. From what I have seen of them I think 

 they could be bred and perhaps established in the wild state, 

 especially should it prove that the young would return after 

 migrating. 



Henry Cook, on his duck pond already described, has a 

 few of these birds. If the pond were marshy they would 

 probably breed, for in one case, even as it was, a pair built 

 a nest of sticks, since there were no rush stems, outin the open 

 water by a fence, and laid several eggs, but finally quit. In 

 a suitable pond, and with proper feeding before the breeding 

 season, they would probably breed successfully. In such 

 case they should be allowed to rear their own young. When 

 the young were large they could be driven into an enclosure 

 and pinioned or wing-clipped. 



Gallinules. Very likely the gallinules, of which we have 

 the Florida and purple gallinule, could be propagated in the 



