THE COOT. 405 



back brownish, the under parts mostly white, mixed with 

 ochrey. Length, 10-12 inches." The habits of this elegant 

 bird are, without doubt, similar to those of its plainer rela- 

 tive just described. 



THE COOT. 



Somewhat larger, but very similar to the Gallinules in 

 structure and habit, and strikingly like the Common Galli- 

 nule in color, is the Coot (Fulica americana). In color it 

 differs from the Common Gallinule, however, in being 

 blacker about the head and neck, and lacking the olivaceous 

 tint on the back. Its bill, too, is white or light flesh-color, 

 with a tendency to a dark or dusky ring near the tip; 

 and the tibia lacks the red ring. Quite common in the 

 migrations, it arrives here in April, and returns south in 

 October.* Its breeding habitat is from Northern New 

 England, the Great Lakes and corresponding latitudes, 

 northward. It breeds in such abundance as to be the char- 

 acteristic bird on St. Clair Flats, where they are as common 

 as hens in a farm-yard. The nest is in reedy pools or shal- 

 low water about rivers, lakes and ponds, composed of dried 

 grasses and sedges, after the manner of the Rails and Gal- 

 linules, sometimes tied to the tall clumps of sedges, and yet 

 resting on a mass of floating debris; sometimes resting on 

 the dry ground near their watery abodes. On St. Clair 

 Flats it is a floating nest anchored to the cat-tails and 

 sedges, resembling that of the Common Gallinule, but gen- 

 erally placed further out in the flooded marshes, toward the 

 channels and the lake. Some 12 inches in external diameter 

 and rising about 8 inches above the water, it is almost 

 invariably built of the dried and bleached leaves of the cat- 

 tail; the saucer-shaped interior being often lined with fine 



* It is said to appear in the Mississippi in thousands during the migrations, and to breed 

 in immense numbers in Northern Minnesota and Dakota. 



