116 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



night. Many persons are partial to the flesh of the Coot, and as it is a legal game- 

 bird large numbers are shot annually. They are much better for the table if 

 skinned instead of being plucked. Bald Eagles have an unquestionable fondness 

 for Coots. Upon one occasion Pearson witnessed the successful efforts of an Eagle 

 thus engaged. It was in Currituck Sound. A flock of Coots had hastily departed 

 upon the approach of their great winged foe. One only remained upon the water; 

 possibly it had been wing-shot and was unable to seek safety by flight. As the 

 Eagle swooped the Coot dived, and the Eagle at once rose aloft. In a short time 

 the Coot came up for air, and was instantly forced under water. This play was 

 reenacted for many minutes, until the Coot, having become exhausted, fell a prey 

 to its enemy. 



When rising on the wing, Coots patter across the water for some distance, and 

 the sound produced by a large flock that has been startled reminds one of the falling 

 of hail or heavy raindrops on a resounding surface. 



Because of the relative scarcity of ponds in the mountainous part of our State, 

 Coots are of comparatively rare occurrence west of the Blue Ridge. 



VIII. ORDER LIMICOUE. SHORE-BIRDS 



Among the shore-birds are many species which are classed as game-birds on the 

 statute books, and hence are more or less well known among gunners. Most of them 

 breed in the far North, some well within the Arctic Circle, and their powers of 

 flight are well exemplified by the known facts concerning their migration. An 

 extreme instance of this is the well-authenticated flight of flocks of Golden Plover 

 from Nova Scotia to northern South America. The longest known migration in this 

 Order is that made by the White-rumped Sandpiper, which winters, nine thousand 

 miles to the southward of its summer nesting grounds. 



Shore-birds are more abundant on the Atlantic coast during the fall migrations 

 than in spring. This may be accounted for by the supposition that many return 

 northward by way of the Mississippi Valley. The young are hatched with a downy 

 covering and can run about actively soon after emerging from the shell. 



" Many other curious facts concerning the migration of this group of long-distance 

 travelers are known, although there is yet a great deal to be learned of the details 

 of these long journeys. What impresses one most in the matter is the tremendous 

 powers of flight and endurance that many of the species possess, powers, so far as 

 we know, not excelled by any other birds. We do know that some of the gulls, 

 albatrosses, man-o'war-birds, etc., are flyers of great endurance, but all of these 

 are perfectly able to rest on the water at any time. Whether the Golden Plover, 

 or any other of those that cross the longest stretches of watery waste, do this is a 

 matter of conjecture of which we have no records. All the species of the group 

 can swim, and some of them at least will not only swim but will dive and swim 

 under water when wounded. This I have actually seen for myself. An ocean 

 journey of twenty-five hundred miles without a rest seems almost incredible, as it 

 would mean a sustained flight of fifty hours at a speed of fifty miles an hour, or 

 thirty-six hours (two days and a night) at seventy-mile speed a flight that one 

 cannot imagine any bird making without food or rest. 



