Coots and Cranes 327 



the lake, .and he regards them as being as thoroughly aquatic as any species 

 of Duck, swimming and diving with equal facility. They were not observed 

 walking on the shore, but spent the time in relatively shallow water some dis- 

 tance out. They were found at first to be feeding exclusively on the tender 

 winter buds of the wild celery ( Vallisneria spiralis), which they secured by div- 

 ing in water which varied in depth from four to twenty-five feet, preferably 

 between four and eighteen feet. Later when the supply of winter buds gave out 

 they ate the leaves and roots of the wild celery, as well as numerous other aquatic 

 plants. Dr. Evermann states that "the Coot dives with greater abruptness than 

 any Duck I have observed. The body turns very quickly and is usually in a 

 nearly vertical position before entirely submerged. . . . The longest time any 

 individual was observed to remain under water was sixteen seconds, and the 

 usual time in water four to ten feet deep was about nine seconds." After feeding 

 on the wild celery the Coot is regarded by Dr. Evermann as the equal of the 

 celebrated Canvas-back Duck as a table bird. At other times they feed on crus- 

 taceans, worms, insects, and seeds, and are not then as fine flavored. The nesl 

 of this species is made of reeds and grasses and is placed among the reeds of 

 fresh-water marshes. The eggs are from eight to fifteen in number, pale buffy 

 white, thickly speckled with fine spots of dark brown. 



To give a slight idea of the other species we may mention briefly the three 

 found in Argentina. The Red-gartered Coot ( F. armillata), so named on account 

 of the bright red naked portion of the leg above the foot, has the bill yellow with 

 red basal spots, and the frontal shield yellow, margined with red. The Yellow- 

 billed Coot (F. leucoptera) may be known by the yellow bill and shield, and the 

 Red-fronted Coot (F. rufifrons) by the bright scarlet bill and shield. 



A single fossil Coot has been described from Pleistocene beds on the Chatham 

 Islands, and a species of large size (Leguatia gigantea) has become extinct on 

 Mauritius. 



THE CRANES, COURLANS, AND TRUMPETERS 



(Family Gruidtz) 



The second of the coordinate families into which Crane-like birds (Grui- 

 formes) are divided comprises the Cranes proper, as well as the minor groups 

 which are assumed, in the system of classification we are following, to be most 

 closely related to them. It must be confessed, however, that the present group- 

 ing is not agreed upon by all ornithologists, but this simply illustrates another 

 case of the difficulty experienced in arriving at a uniform classification of groups 

 that are confessedly of close affinity. The selection of one set of characters as 

 a basis for classification may give results quite different from those to be ob- 

 tained with another set, and it thus becomes a matter of extreme difficulty to 

 determine satisfactorily the characters to which most weight should be given. 

 Suffice it to say that, all things considered, the present grouping is perhaps as 

 satisfactory as any that can be devised in the present state of our knowledge, 

 which is unfortunately far from complete, regarding many of the forms included. 



