The American Coot 



Taken in San Diego County 



appeared to be very much alive when released either in the air or upon the 

 water. It would appear that the bird cannot launch to wing on account 

 of the impeding grass, and, realizing its plight, attempts deception in- 

 stead. 



By way of nesting the Coot puts a hatful of speckled eggs on a bulky 

 heap of broken sedges or tules. This accumulation may be placed either 

 on dry land near some waterway, or in various depths of water in the weedy 

 or reedy margins of a lake. Not infrequently nests are built on the water 



and moored to standing 

 reeds, after the fashion 

 of Grebes, — with this dif- 

 ference, however, that 

 the Coot under such cir- 

 cumstances always 

 chooses dried weed- 

 stalks, or crumpled bul- 

 rush stems for nesting 

 material, so that the 

 buoyancy of the sub- 

 merged portion will lift 

 the surface of the struc- 

 ture high and dry above 

 the water. A runway 

 or "gang plank" of mat- 

 ted rushes is usually pro- 

 vided, and this is an- 

 chored or steadied in 

 such fashion that the 

 nest will not be upset 

 by the weight of the 

 approaching bird. 



Since it is not pos- 

 sible to do justice to the 

 relationships of birds in 

 any linear taxonomic 

 arrangement, I prefer to 

 stress the tie existing 

 between the Ralliformes 

 and the Galliformes . 

 Whatever other connec- 

 tions we must recognize 

 for these two groups, 



Photo by the A itthor 



n/12 AMERICAN COOT 



1564 



