CINEREOUS COOT— PILEATED WOODPECKER. 



17 



measured full nine feet, and were extremely thin. The crop or 

 craw was of proportionate size, and the stomach large, resembling 

 an oblong pouch. Both crop and stomach contained half-digested 

 fish. The heart and lungs were large and strong. There was no 

 muscular gizzard. The female bird is about two inches longer 

 than the male. The upper portion of her head is less white than 

 that of the male, and her breast is marked with brown streaks. 



PLATE XVII. 



The Cinereous Coot. {Falica Americana^) 



This species was formerly, by some ornithologists, classed among 

 the Natatores, or swimming birds proper ; but its form, the com- 

 pressed body, and especially its mode of living, designate it clearly 

 as a connecting link between the Gallinules and the swimming 

 birds. It has a very strong resemblance, in the formation of its 

 whole bodv, to the Gallinules, except that its feet are lobed. 



The Cinereous Coot usually makes its appearance in the State 

 of Ohio about the middle of April, stays the whole summer, and 

 leaves for the South when the rushes are destroyed by severe 

 frosts. 



This bird is found almost everywhere in Europe, but is repre- 

 sented in the southern parts by a related kind. It has been found 

 in middle Asia, and in its winter-quarters, iu the interior of Africa. 

 It is probable, however, that one or the other observer may have in- 

 termixed the different related kinds, not having taken the trouble of 

 a close examination. In Great Britain it is said to be found at all 

 seasons, and does not seem to migrate to other countries, but merely 

 changes its station in autumn from the lesser pools or loughs, where 

 their young are reared, to the larger lakes, where these birds as- 

 semble in winter in large flocks. They are also found in Ger- 

 many. They avoid rivers and brooks as well as the sea, and pre- 

 fer still waters, who se borders are overgrown with rushes and reeds. 



They are consequently most numerous in the marshes of the 

 larger lakes, and on the larger ponds. The time of their appear- 

 ance in the spring depends chiefly-, it seems, on the melting of the 

 snow and ice. They remain in the same place during the whole 

 summer, and in autumn begin to wander, assembling sometimes in 

 immense flocks on the larger sheets of water, whence they migrate 

 to the South, usually in the latter part of October and in Novem- 

 ber. 



The Coot is oftener seen on the water than on land, but frequents 

 the latter, especially during midday, to take a rest, and to clean 

 and put its plumage in order. Though the feet of the Coot are 

 rather awkwardly constructed for running, it runs tolerably well on 

 the ground ; but spends by far the greater part of its life in swim- 

 ming. Its feet are excellent rudders, for what their swimming 

 lobes are lacking in breadth, is made up by the length of the toes. 

 The Coot is also an expert diver, and contests the palm, in this re- 

 spect, with many real swimming birds. It dives to considerable 

 depths, and swims, with the help of its wings, great distances under 

 water. To escape danger, it always sinks itself in deep water. 

 Before it rises for a flight, it flutters for a great distance over the 

 surface, striking the water so violently with its feet that the noise 

 of the splashing can be heard at a great distance. 



The Coot is very loquacious, chattering to its companions almost 

 incessantly. Its voice is a shrill " Kuw," and the shrillness, in 

 time of anger, is doubled or even trebled. It also utters a short, 

 hard " Pitts," and at times a hollow guttural sound. It is a very 

 sociable bird among its own kind, except in the breeding season, 

 when each pair always strive to keep a certain district for them- 

 selves, into which they never suffer any other birds to enter. Even 

 in their winter-quarters, Coots do not like to see other swimming 

 birds, and make it a special point to drive away Ducks. 



Aquatic insects and their larvae, worms and small shells, and 



several kinds of vegetable matter, which they find in the water, 

 form the principal food of Cinereous Coots. They pick up 

 their food in swimming and diving, either from the surface, or by 

 diving after it to the bottom. Some Coots, kept in captivity, lived 

 for a whole winter exclusively on grain, and although they were 

 occasionally fed with small minnows, which they readily ate, they 

 seemed to prefer the grain. Whenever the Coot has settled on the 

 smaller ponds or swamps it begins to build its nest, which is formed 

 in the rushes near the water's edge. It is built on the trampled 

 down stocks of weeds and rushes, and is composed of the dry 

 stocks of the same. The upper layers and the interior consist of a 

 little finer material, such as the finer weeds, dry grass, and fibers. 

 The female lays, in the latter part of May, from seven to twelve 

 eggs, rather large in proportion to the size of the bird, having a 

 fine but hard shell, of a yellowish brown color, sprinkled over with 

 dark ash colored and blackish brown dots, chiefly on the large end. 

 The eggs are hatched in about twenty or twenty-one days. As 

 soon as the young quit the shell and are dry, they plunge into the 

 water, and dive and swim with the greatest ease, but always cluster 

 again about the mother, taking shelter under her wings, while the 

 male w^arns and protects them from danger. For a considerable 

 time they return nightly to their nest ; but gradually they separate 

 more and more from the parents. Long before they are fully 

 fledged, they become independent of parental care. 



The female Coot frequently breeds twice in a season, but may 

 be called lucky if she raises one-half of the young she hatches, 

 Great havoc is made among them, before they have learned by ex- 

 perience to defend themselves, by the Marsh Hawk and other kinds 

 of the Hawk tribe, as well as by turtles. 



A Coot is found in Europe, the Falica Atra, resembling the 

 American, though differing from it in having the bill and frontal 

 plate perfectly white, while on the American Coot the frontal plate 

 is always of a bright chestnut color. The Coot's gizzard is strong 

 and muscular, like that of a common hen. The male and female 

 are colored alike, except fthat the black on the head and neck of 

 the female is less brilliant. The flesh of the Coot, even that of the 

 young, makes an unsavory dish for the table. 



PLATE XVIII. 

 The Pileated Woodpecker. {Dryoconus — Pilus Pileatus.') 



Fig. i. 



This Woodpecker, second only in size to any other, is a true 

 American bird, and may be called the chief of all northern Wood- 

 peckers. His range extends from Upper Canada, all over the 

 United States, to the Gulf of Mexico. He abounds most in the 

 North, in forests of tall trees, particularly in the neighborhood of 

 large rivers, where he is noted for his loud cries, especially before 

 wet weather. At such times he flies, restless and uneasy, from tree 

 to tree, making the forest echo with his outcries. In the State of 

 Ohio, and generally in all the Northern States, he is called the 

 Black Woodcock ; in the Southern States they call him the Log- 

 cock. Every old trunk in the forest where he resides, bears more 

 or less the marks of his chisel-like bill. Whenever he finds a tree 

 beginning to decay, he subjects it to a close examination, in order 

 to find out the cause, going round and round it, and pulling the 

 bark off in strips often several feet long, laboring with astonishing 

 skill and activity. He has frequently been seen to strip the bark 

 from a dead pine tree, eight or ten feet down, in less than fifteen 

 minutes. Whatever he is doing, whether climbing, stripping off 

 bark, or digging, he seems to be always in great haste. He is ex- 

 tremely watchful and shy, and is consequently difficult to kill. He 

 clings closely to the tree after having received his mortal wound, 

 and does not even quit his hold with his last breath. If shot at on 



