396 



ALECTOniDKS. 





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Tlip Coot can swim and divp with gwiit ease; Init wlicii wtiirtiiij,' to fly sniniis tr; 

 havi' j^ri'at (litliculty in risiiif,'. at lirst flappiiij,' the water and almost walking uiiun it 

 for soiuf distance. When uiice fairly up it ciin move witii eoiisi(h'ialile swiffiiess, 

 resenil)liii},' in this a (irelje mueh nu)re tiian a iJail. In the spring it lieeomes (piite 

 noisy, the floelis making a kind of ehattering chorus, but Ijeecmiing silent again after 

 they have separated in pairs Utv the breeding-season. A few breed as far south as 

 Santa Jiarbara. wliere Dr. Cooper saw young on the lOthof May, while at I'uget Sound 

 they appear early in .lune. I)r. Cooper diil not meet with the nest of this species. 

 lait he was informed liy Dr. Liel) tiiat it is eompo.sed of (h'y rushes, without lining, 

 loosely constructed, and several inches tiiick at tiie bottom. It is live inches deep 

 and nearly two feet wide, and sometimes floats among the rushes. The eggs are .said 

 to b^' from ten to Hfteen in nund)er. greenish yellow in ground-color, sprinkh'd witli 

 snmll lirown spi'cks, and measure U.(«> by l.U.") inches. 



Tiiis l)iril ri'sembles the Hail in having a compressed body, and can nud<e its way 

 through tlie dense reeds where Ducks cannot ])ass, and where the water is too deep 

 for Kails. In such situations it spends most of its tiuu', feeding on grass-seeds. 

 leaves of a(iuati<' plants, small shells, and insects, collecting mueh of its food under 

 the water. On tiie land it can sometimes l)e caught l)y iiaud before it is aide to rise. 



Examples were obtained by Mr. Skinner in Central America, and others were 

 observed in abiuuhmce on the Lake of Duefias by Mr. Salvin, which, from speci- 

 mens afterward obtained, were ascertained with (iertainty to be of this sjieeies. It 

 is given l)y Leotaud as rare in Trinichul. 



Mr. March describes tlie I'ggs of this species, found by him in .lanmiea, as belief 

 eight or more in uundu-r, oval, jwinted at one end, grayish stone-cok)r, splasiu'd all 

 over with small bistre-l)rown sjjots and dots. The ground-color is at flrst very pale, 

 but becomes darker by exposure. 



Mr. Oosse states that it may be seen at all hours of the day in the iunneuse morass 

 of Savanna la Mar, there being hundreds congregated within an acre. There they are 

 wary to an excess, the distant sight of a man or tlie snai)i)ing of a dry twig alaruung 

 the whole flock, though the noise of cattle walking on the shore has no su(di tdfect. 



A few siiecinu'iis of this bird are recorded by Major Wedderburn and Mr. Hurdis 

 as having been obtained at JJermuda, usually in November and December, and in one 

 instance on tlu' L'8th of May. 



^Ir. Say ol)served it in the lower part of ^Missouri Territory ; and in Long's 

 Expedition it was seen in Lake AVinnipicpie on the 7th of June. Mr. Swainson 

 also obtained specimens on the Plateau of Mexico. ]\Ir. Nuttall mentions that about 

 the 15th of April, l.s;{.'}, a pair took up their residence in Fresh I'ond, Mass., and 

 in the following June were occasionally seen, accomjianied by their young. It is 

 probable that similar occurrences are more common than is generally supposed, liar- 

 tram informed Wilson that this bird is resident and abundant in Florida. Audubon, 

 however, controverts this statement, believing that the Coot is found in either Louis- 

 iana or Florida from November to the middle of April only, that none reuuiin there 

 after that period, and that none breed there. So sweeping a conclusion from merely 

 negative evidence is somewhat rash, in view of the fact that the Coot is known to 

 breed in large numbers in the Island of Cuba on the one hand, and in Texas, and 

 Tamaulipas, Mexico, on the other. In one instance, at least, it has been found breed- 

 ing at Monticello, West Florida, from which place its egg was sent me by Mr. Samuel 

 Pasco, a citizen of that place. 



Mr. Audubon mentions having once encountered a large flock of these birds, several 

 hundreds in number, on the Mississippi on the 22d of March. They were feeding on 



