158 GAME BIRDS. WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



and Winchester, and the older gunners had a tradition that 

 large flocks of " Coots " used to come into Fresh Pond, and 

 many were killed there. ^ Eaton says that at times it is 

 abundant on the Hudson and is a common fall migrant on 

 lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain. Mr. James Savage refers 

 to great flights of this species and the White- winged Scoter on 

 Lake Erie, where they are abundant in October. He says that 

 great numbers are killed there. In the fall flight of 1899 one 

 gunner is said to have killed one hundred and nine in one 

 forenoon, desisting for want of ammunition. On October 9, 

 1900, two brothers are said to have killed one hundred and 

 five on Lake Erie, near Angola, Erie County, N. Y.^ Mr. 

 Charles E. Ingalls of East Templeton, Mass., says that the 

 Scoter is seldom seen there, but was formerly common in fall 

 after easterly storms. Mr. Lawrence Horton of Canton, Mass., 

 says that all the Scoters formerly came to the ponds there in 

 heavy northeast weather. Only a few come now, and, as a 

 rule, they grow less each year. Mr. Herbert F. Chase of 

 Amesbury says that the Scoters have decreased fifty per cent, 

 in the last ten years in his vicinity. He has stopped shooting 

 them now, as they are practically of no use, and he does not 

 care to kill them for sport. He says, ' I may be hungry 

 enough sometime to relish Coot, but I hope not." 



Reports received regarding the increase or decrease of this 

 species come mainly from the coast counties, as it is now rare 

 elsewhere. Seven observers report it as increasing in their 

 localities, in Bristol and Barnstable counties, and forty-three 

 as decreasing. These reports extend over an average period 

 of nearly thirty years. 



In migration this bird is often seen in flocks of one hun- 

 dred or more, and in smaller groups at other times, but it 

 associates with the other two species. Little is known about 

 its early abundance, but it is probable that on the Atlantic it 

 has decreased more in proportion to its former numbers than 

 the other two common species. It is far more numerous now 

 on the Pacific coast than on the Atlantic. So little is known 



' Brewster, William: Birds of the Cambridge Region, 1906, p. 123. 

 s Eaton, E. H.: Birds of New York, 1910, p. 222. 



