294 RALLID^ ; RAILS AND THEIR ALLIES. 



AMERICAN COOT. 



FULICA AMERICANA Gm. 



Chars. Toes conspicuously lobate with a series of scolloped flaps ; 

 a small frontal shield. Dark slate-color, paler or grayish below, 

 blackening on head, tinged with olive on the back ; under tail- 

 coverts, whole edge of wing, and tips of secondaries, white. Bill 

 white or flesh-color, marked with reddish-black near end and at 

 base of frontal shield ; feet livid greenish ; iris carmine. Length, 

 14.00-16.00 ; extent, 23.00-27.00 ; wing, 7.00-8.00 ; tail, 2.00 ; 

 bill from gape, 1.25-1.50 ; tarsus about 2.00 ; middle toe and 

 claw about 3.00. 



This well-known bird is an uncommon summer resi- 

 dent with us, but particularly abundant during the 

 autumnal migration. It is known to breed in New 

 England, though the actual numbers during the season 

 of reproduction are few compared with those which 

 pass through in the spring and fall. It lingers late, and 

 may not improbably be sometimes found in winter. 



" The nidification of the Coot," says Coues, " is not the 

 least interesting portion of its history. The mode of 

 nesting is most like that of the Grebes. The nest is 

 said to be sometimes a floating one, moored to the 

 stems of reeds, rising and falling with the tide. One 

 author, in illustration of the insecurity of the bird's 

 home, has related that once during a storm a nest 

 became detached from its moorings by a rise of the 

 water, and drifted about, the parent nevertheless re- 

 maining at her post of duty, and safely hatching out 

 her brood during the cruise. This may or may not have 

 been a strict statement of fact. Among many Coots' 

 nests I have found, one was built in a clump of reeds 



