CINEREOUS COOT. 635 
The Cinereous Coot is sixteen inches in length, and twenty-eightin 
extent; bill, one and « half inch long, white, the upper mandible 
slightly notched near the tip, and marked across with a band of chest- 
nut, thie lower mandible marked on each side with a squarish spot of 
the like color, edged on the lower part with bright yellow, or gamboge, 
thence to the tip, pale horn color; membrane of the forehead, dark 
chestnut brown; irides, cornelian red; beneath the eyes, in most spe- 
cimens, a whitish spot; the head and neck are of a deep shining black, 
resembling satin; back and scapulars, dirty greenish olive ; shoulders, 
breast, and wing-coverts, slate blue; the under parts are hoary ; vent, 
black; beneath the tail, pure white; primaries and secondaries, slate, 
the former tipped with black, the latter with white, which does not ap- 
pear when the wing is closed; outer edges of the wings, white; legs 
and toes, yellowish green, tne scalloped membrane of the latter, lead 
color; middle toe, including the claw, three inches and three quarters 
lone. 
The bird, from which the foregoing description was taken, (Fig. 306,) 
was shot in the Delaware, below Philadelphia, the 29th of October, 
1813. It was an old male,an uncommonly fine specimen, and weighed 
twenty-three ounces avoirdupois. It is deposited in Peale’s Museum. 
The young birds differ somewhat in their plumage, that of the head 
and neck being of a brownish black; that of the breast and shoulders, 
pale ash; the throat, gray or mottled ; the bill, bluish white ; and the 
membrane on the forehead, considerably smaller. 
The young females very much resemble the young males; all the 
difference which I have been enabled to perceive, is as follows :— 
breast and shoulders, cinereous ; markings on the bill, less ; upper parts 
of the head, in some specimens, mottled ; and being less in size. 
The lower parts of these birds are clothed with a thick down, and, 
particularly between the thighs, covered with close, fine feathers. The 
thighs are placed far behind, are fleshy, strong, and bare above the 
knees. Sloane says, that “the trachea arteria of the Coots is branched 
into two, just under the base of the heart, and is compressed as that 
of the Ardea cerulea nigra.” 
The gizzard resembles a Hen’s, and is remarkably large and muscu- 
lar. That of the bird which has been described, was filled with sand, 
gravel, shells, and the remains of aquatic plants. 
Buffon describes the mode of shooting Coots in France, particularly 
in Lorraine, on the great pools of Tiaucourt, and of Indre; hence we 
are led to suppose, that they are esteemed as an article of food. But 
with us, who are enabled, by the abundance and variety of game, to in- 
dulge in greater luxuries in that season when our Coots visit us, they 
are considered as of no account, and are seldom eaten. 
The European ornithologists represent the membrane on the fore- 
head of the Coot as white, except in the breeding season, when it is 
said to change its color to pale red. This circumstance would induce 
one to suppose, that our Coot is a different species from the European, 
which [ have never had the satisfaction to behold; and, indeed, J am 
much of that opinion. 
It is a very rare occurrence, that the Coot is seen in the vicinity of 
Philadelphia in the spring or summer. The 19th of March, 1814, [had 
the satisfaction of being presented with one, a female, which was shot 
