AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 29 



U. have adopted the appellation rail instead of crake 

 used by Dr. Coues. Now it is very desirable that we 

 should have generic names as precise as possible. Why 

 not translate Porzana (Coturnicops was then included un- 

 der Porzana) as crake and Rallies rail?" 



No. 964. Male. 10 mi. S. of Greensboro. Dec. 19, 1891. W. C. 

 Avery. 



38. FULICA AMERICANA (Gmelin). 

 COOT. 



In 1886 Dr. Avery published an article in the "Orni- 

 thologist and Oologist" entitled, "Migration of the Coot," 

 and four years later used much of the same material in 

 his list which appeared in the "American Field." How- 

 ever, it is considered worth while to republish here both 

 notes in full. 



"A fact relative to the migration of the coot (Fidica 

 americana), known here by the French name, Poule-d* 

 eau, may, perhaps, be worth recording. About the mid- 

 dle of April, 1885, as I was going out of the house, at sun- 

 rise, my attention was attracted to a bird sitting within 

 a few feet of the porch. It proved to be a coot. Instead 

 of trying to escape, as any other bird would have done, 

 when I extended my hand to catch it, the poule-de'eau 

 showed fight. I confined it in a chicken-coop in the 

 yard, and supplied it with some corn-bread and water. 

 If it ever ate or drank while in my possession, I was not 

 aware of the fact. It took, to my knowledge, neither 

 food nor water. It seemed to spend every minute of the 

 day and night in perpetual motion. Its efforts were not 

 in vain. 



" 'Omnia vincit improbus labor,' was, doubtless, the 

 motto of my prisoner. By thrusting the head and neck 

 through every opening within reach, the restless bird at 

 last forced off a slat and recovered its freedom. On the 

 third day after it had been placed in 'durance vile/ I 

 saw it standing on top of its prison pluming itself. I 

 advanced towards it, expecting to capture it again. Imag- 

 ine my surprise when it rose on strong pinions, flying 

 high and going in a northerly direction, as far as I could 

 see it. This was not the first time that I had seen in 



