Note. — The three following species, Nos. 28, 29, and 30, known as " coots " 

 (see Nos. 31, 32, 33, 37) or " sea coots," " scoters," etc., cannot be regarded as 

 general favorites for the table, and we can fully understand the reason when 

 we attempt the mastication of one of mature years. Latham writes concern- 

 ing this kind of fowl (Synopsis, 1785): "The flesh tastes fishy to an extreme, 

 and from this cause is allowed by the Roman Catholics to be eaten on fast days, 

 and in Lent; and indeed, to say the truth, must be a sufficient mortification." 



I am forced to omit many local names heard for these birds, finding it 

 impossible to obtain a satisfactory vote among the duckers and fishermen as to 

 which species they belong to. The three are in many ways similar, and the fe- 

 males differ enough from the old cocks to be often classed as distinct varieties. 



In the markets of Washington, D. C, the name "booby" (see No. 31) is 

 indiscriminately applied to fowl of this genus (not often killed, however, so 

 far up the river), and they are referred to collectively, and facetiously, at 

 Pleasantville (Atlantic Co.), N. J., as "iron pots," or " old iron pots." 



No. 38. 



Oidemia deglandi. 



Adult male. Plumage black, with conspicuous band of white 

 on wing, and small patch of white on side of head sweeping 

 backward with upward curve from lower part of eye ; eye pearl 

 white with small black centre or pupil, the white of the patch 

 below narrowly continued around edge of eye. Bill with ab- 

 ruptly rising knob at base; much encroached upon by feathers; 

 immediately at base black, this black spreading forward over 

 the knob and continued along the edge to nail at end ; sides of 

 bill purplish red changing to orange near base; nail also orange, 

 and from nail to the black between the nostrils white, or pearl 

 white ; the middle of the bill, in other words from nail to knob, 

 being broadly white ; lower mandible (lower division of bill) 

 black with broad patch of orange (including nail) at end, this 

 patch paling to white at back edge. The legs may be briefly 

 described as red, with black joints and webs, but the two sides 

 of legs and toes differ considerably in color, the outside surfaces 



