636 CINEREOUS COOT. 
in the Schuylkill, at Gray’s Ferry. I could see no difference in its plu- 
mage and markings, from those of the full grown male, except the head 
and neck not being of so deep a black. The membrane on the fore- 
head was not more than half the size of that of the female specimen, 
described above, and it was of the same color, viz., dark chestnut. All 
the birds which I have ever seen, had this appendage of the same 
color. ? ; , 
In Lewis and Clark’s history of their expedition, mention is made of 
a bird which is common on the Columbia; is said to be very noisy, to 
have a sharp, shrill whistle, and to associate in large flocks ; it is called 
the Black Duck.* This is doubtless a species of Coot, but whether or 
not different from ours, cannot be ascertained. How much is it to be 
regretted, that, in an expedition of discovery, planned and fitted out by 
an enlightened government, furnished with every means for safety, sub- 
sistence, and research, not one naturalist, not one draughtsman, should 
have been sent, to observe and perpetuate the infinite variety of natural 
productions, many of which are entirely unknown to the community 
of science, which that extensive tour must have revealed ! 
The Coot leaves us in November for the southward. 
The foregoing was prepared for the press, when the author, in one 
of his shooting excursions on the Delaware, had the good.fortune to 
kill a full-plumaged female Coot. This was on the 20th of April. It: 
was swimming at the edge of a cripple, or thicket of alder bushes, 
busily engaged in picking something from the surface of the water, and, 
while thus employed, it turned frequently. The membrane on its fore- 
head was very small, and edged on the fore part with gamboge. Its 
eggs were of the size of partridge shot. And, on the 13th of May, 
another fine female specimen was presented to him, which agreed with 
the above, with the exception of the membrane on the forehead being 
nearly as large and prominent as that of the male. From the circum- 
stance of the eggs of all these birds being very small, it is probable 
that the Coots do not breed until July. 
* History of the Expedition, vol. ii. p.194. Under date of November 30th, 1805, 
they say, — “The hunters brought in a few Black Ducks, of a-species common in 
the United States, living in large flocks and feeding on grass ; they are distinguished 
oy a sharp white beak, toes separated, and by having no craw.” 
