AMERICAN COOT— MUD-HEN, BELL-DIVER. 193 

 CHAPTER XX. 



AMEEICAIT COOT — MTJD-HEN, HELL-DIVEE. 



Webster defines a fowl to be, " a vertebrate animal, 

 having two legs and two wings, and covered with 

 feathers, or down ; a bird." This definition is far 

 reaching and admits of a generous construction, and 

 one needs absolute freedom of analysis in attempting 

 to classify Coots — or, as we call them in the West, 

 " mud-hens " and " hell-divers " — ^as wild fowl. The 

 universal opinion of Western hunters is, that they are 

 a harmless nuisance, neither fit for sport nor food. 

 'Tis true they are bipeds, winged animals, but are a 

 poor excuse for meat — only to be tolerated when the 

 larder is empty, and the cravings of a strong stomach 

 •demand flesh for sustenance. At such a time a 

 person could shut his eyes, fix his thoughts far off, 

 accept this food sent him in the way of manna, transfer 

 himself to the days of Biblical times, imagine himself 

 an Elijah, not fed by ravens, but feeding on mud-hens. 

 Under such circumstances, a person ought to get along 

 fairly well, providing he can keep his thoughts at all 

 times removed from the existing condition of things. 

 Perhaps I am incompetent to sit as judge, and condemn 

 these birds, when an honest confession forces me to 

 admit I never tasted them. My opinion is based en- 

 tirely on hearsay, — incompetent in a legal sense, but in 

 a gastronomical one, sufficient for all practical purposes. 

 Frequently they are eaten by hunters, and with — so 

 they say- — great relish. They claim they taste some- 



