238 RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS 



V., Mch. 15-May 5; Sept. 1-Nov. 1. Glen Ellyn, not common S. R., Apl. 

 14-Oct. 4. SE. Minn., common S. R., Apl. 3-Oct. 14. 



Nest, of reeds, grasses, etc., among reeds in fresh-water marshes. Eggs, 

 8-15, pale, buffy white, finely and uniformly speckled with chocolate or 

 black, 1'85 x 1'25. Date, St. Glair Flats, Mich., May 17; se. Minn., May 27. 



As one might imagine after seeing their lobed feet, Coots are more 

 aquatic than either of the Gallinules. In the Middle States they are 

 found in creeks and rivers with marshy and reed-grown shores, while 

 in Florida they resort in enormous numbers to lakes covered with the 

 yellow lilies locally known as 'bonnets' (Nymphcea); and in some of the 

 large, shallow rivers, like Indian River, they may be found in myriads, 

 associated with Lesser Scaup Ducks. 



In my experience they are as a rule quite shy; but near the long 

 railway pier at Titusville, Florida, where shooting is prohibited, they 

 are as tame as domestic Ducks. They evidently know the boundary 

 line between safety and danger, however, and when beyond the pro- 

 tected limits show their usual caution. 



Coots swim easily, with a peculiar bobbing motion of the head and 

 neck. When alarmed they patter over the water, using their feet as 

 much as their wings. Both the sound produced and the wake left are 

 characteristic. 



They are noisy birds, and when alarmed break out into a great 

 chorus of high, cackling notes which I have heard at a distance of half 

 a mile. Their ivory-white bill is an excellent field-mark, and readily 

 serves to distinguish Coots from Gallinules. 



1902. EVERMANN, B. W., The Osprey, 57 (feeding habits). 



IX. ORDER LIMICOUE. SHORE BIRDS 



Although placed in several well-defined family groups, the Limicolae 

 have many traits in common. Their center of abundance is in the north- 

 ern parts of the Northern Hemisphere, a large number of species nesting 

 in the Arctic zone. Many of these winter in the southern portions of the 

 Southern Hemisphere, their migrations, therefore, being the most ex- 

 tended of those performed by birds. With the exception of the European 

 Green Sandpiper and its American representative, our Solitary Sand- 

 piper, the Limicolae all nest on the ground, the nest being more or less 

 simple in structure. The eggs, usually four in number, are large in 

 proportion to the size of the bird, and are decidedly conical in shape, 

 and some species, at least, arrange them in the nest, point down, in 

 order that the exposed upper surface may be decreased in extent and 

 thus be more easily and fully covered by the sitting bird. The young 

 are born with a downy covering, usually of soft browns, grays and buffs, 

 and with more or less pronounced markings, and can run about actively, 

 shortly after hatching. This natal down is soon followed by the Juvenal 

 plumage, to the tips of which it may, in places, be seen adhering. 



