BIRDS OF NRW YORK STATE 25 



Coot (Fulica americana) 



Few birds have so many different names as the American coot. 

 It is known as mud hen, water hen, crow bill, crow duck, blue 

 peter and white-billed water chicken. It has still other names. 



It is shot as a game bird, but its flesh is inferior to that of 

 ducks. For this reason many persons do not shoot them. It is 

 most numerous during the fall and spring. 13—16 



Call no. 

 Nu Cn Adult (captive) on Plank. Ithaca. (June 25, 1918) Allen 



This and the captive ducks of this collection photographed by 

 Doctor Allen were kept by him in captivity at his "Glenside" 

 home to be released, banded, in his experimental studies of the 

 migration and other habits of ducks. 



Nu Cn2 Nest with Ten Eggs in Reeds. Renwick swamp, near 

 Ithaca. (June 1, 1906) Bailey 



The nest is made of reeds and flags near the ground. It is 

 placed in a cover of reeds. The eggs are similar to the gallinules, 

 but the spots are smaller and blacker. 



Cowbird {M olothrus ater ater) 



The name cowbird was given this bird probably because it 

 follows the cattle in the pasture and feeds on insects that are 

 found on them. Cowbirds reach New York State from the south 

 in March. The species is polygamous and polyandros. Unlike 

 most other birds it never builds a nest but depends upon the 

 labor of other species for nest building, incubating eggs and rear- 

 ing young. It usually lays its eggs in the nests of the smaller 

 birds. When these eggs hatch in advance of the other eggs, the 

 young cowbird, being larger, gets most of the food brought by 

 the old birds and the rightful young are starved. So each cow- 

 bird that matures usuall)' means the death of four or five other 

 birds that might have lived. Now and then a cowbird lays its 

 eggs in the nests of birds larger than itself and then it may be 

 the young cowbird that is starved. On account of its food habits 

 it is counted a beneficial bird, but its parasitic nature is certainly 

 not commendable. 7.25-8.25 



Nu Co Adult Male (right) and Female (left) Feeding. Ithaca. 

 (May 2, 1914) Bailey 



The cowbird is attracted to such a feeding station by various 

 seeds. As it builds no nest of its own, it can not readily be 



