HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



363 



CINEREOUS COOT. 



America, indifferent to climate, dwells and breeds in 

 every part of the North American continent, over a 

 range of probably more than fifty degrees of latitude ! 

 Nocturnal in their habits, and dispersing themselves 

 far and wide over every water solitude, they appear, in 

 many places, to have disappeared for the season, until 

 the numbers, swelled by their prolific broods, and im- 

 pelled at the approach of winter to migrate for food, 

 now begin to show themselves in the lakes, pools, and 

 estuaries in the vicinity of the sea, from which they 

 gradually recede towards the south, as the severity 

 of the season compels them, being unable to subsist 

 amidst the ice. In this way they proceed, accumu- 

 lating in numbers as they advance, so that in the in- 

 undated and marshy tracts of Florida, particularly 

 along the banks of the San Juan, they are seen in 

 winter, congregated in vast and noisy flocks. In the 

 milder latitudes, their whole migrations will be limited 

 to a traverse from the interior to the vicinity of the 



