Music of the Wild 



vety blackness. He has full brilliant eyes, and a 

 beak l)v wliich he can be identitied. The mandi- 

 bles are close the length of a duck's, but ])ointed 

 and rather sharp, of a ])eautiful white, with opal- 

 escent tints of pale pink and salmon. The nos- 

 trils are long and sharply cut, and a narrow, 

 rufous band bridges the ujiper part, lapping on 

 each side of the lower. His make-up displays 

 two unusual and comical attempts at decoration. 

 At the base of the up^^er mandible the coot wears 

 a large frontal 2)late of In'ight chestnut, and the 

 under side of the short tail is lined with white. 

 Aside from these, in his dark rojje and black 

 cowl he is in dress the plainest resident of the 

 marsh. 



During tlie lireeding season tlie male bird lines 

 off his nesting location and swims around close 



Young his mate, guarding, and keeping her company. 



Trum- ^Yf^Q j-,) gjjy j^jj.j i\y^i encroaches on the invisible 



peters I " y' 



boundary! Coots nest beside the water in the tall 

 marsh grasses, and lay from six to ten large, yel- 

 lowish-brown eggs, heavily dotted with darker 

 spots on the larger end. The young, hatched after 

 three Meeks' brooding, take to the water as soon 

 as their do^vn is dry. In an unexpectedly short 

 time they ])ecome self-supporting, and, with the 

 addition of tlieir baby chatter to the swellinff vol- 

 lune of their elders', form a conspicuous feature 

 of marsli music. Xo doul>t your l)oat has shot past 



878 



