and the Maritime Provinces. 405 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



Coot Shooting, 



By BENJAMIN C. CLH.RK. 



Fnlica Americana, the common coot of the North America fauna, 

 ordinarily called the mud-hen, is a fresh-water bird rarely shot at by hunt- 

 ers, as its flesh is dark and unpalatable. 



The birds generally known to fishermen, hunters and sportsmen in 

 New England as "coots," and which are rarely, if ever, found on fresh- 

 water ponds or streams, belong really to the family of ducks. They con- 

 sist of the following three varieties : 



1. Skunkhead. The surf-scoter. Oidcmia perspicillata. 

 '2. Butterbill. The American scoter. Oidcmia Americana. 

 8. White-wing. The white-winged scoter. Oidcmia deg/andi. 



It is not unusual to hear a larger number of varieties enumerated, but 

 the so-called gray coot is the young of the butterbill or the skunkhead, and 

 the gray white-wing is the female or the young of the white-winged scoter. 



These birds breed in the Arctic regions, between the 50th and 60th 

 parallels of latitude, and migrate, as a rule, in flocks, during the months of 

 September, October and November. The old birds often precede their 

 young by several weeks, but it is not infrequent in October to find them 

 mixed in the flocks. Although many of these birds remain in Buzzard's 

 bay and Long Island sound all winter, their flight ranges along our entire 

 southern coast, as far even as the mouth of the Mississippi river. As these 

 ducks feed almost exclusively in the open sea, their flesh is oily and strongly 

 flavored ; but they are in favor, especially the young birds, with those who 

 have become accustomed to their taste, and there is but little difficulty in 

 finding a ready market for them. 



In rough weather the coots are apt to fly close to the water, to avoid 

 the strong wind, but when it is calm they fly high in the air, out of gun- 

 shot. Frequently, sportsmen, by shouting loudly, or firing a gun, will alarm 

 them by the unusual noise, so that they will suspend the movement of their 

 wings, and scale down rapidly towards the water, thus coming within shot. 

 This habit is believed to be peculiar to the white-wings. 



