LIST AND DESCRIPTION 63 



and Rails, both in general structure and also in size. They are 

 aquatic in habit, having lobed or semi-webbed feet. They are 

 fairly good swimmers but not equal to Ducks. Unlike Loons 

 and Grebes they are not adept divers. The wings of Coots are 

 small in proportion to their bodies, hence they are slow and 

 rather clumsy, both in rising from the water and in flight. Their 

 legs are too short to place them with the waders, but notwith- 

 standing their apparent defects they hold their own fairly well. 

 Probably this is partly due to the fact that their flesh is not es- 

 teemed for food. 



In regard to the quality of the flesh and the feeding 

 habits of the Coot we quote Mr. H. Waltan Clark in "Birds and 

 Nature," Vol. Ill, page 131 : "During the first few weeks after 

 their arrival in the spring the Coots find plenty of dainty tit bits 

 of succulent vegetation, and they are then very good eating. He 

 who feasts on them at this time is likely to think of 'Mud-hen' 

 with the accent on the last syllable. Later, however, the food 

 becomes scarcer, and the birds subsist more and more on the rank 

 chara or other similar growths of the lake bottom. The flavor 

 then becomes rank and muddy, and he who feeds on 'Mud-hens' 

 is pretty sure to think of the name with a change of accent." 



The general appearance of the Coot is dark slate, although 

 the head and neck are usually darker, and the belly lighter, than 

 the body. The bill is whitish with brown spots near the tip, 

 and the crown plate is brown. The Coot is common over the 

 State, nesting on old muskrat houses or on a bunch of old rushes 

 that are still attached but floating. Their flight in migration is 

 during the night. 



