NtTEO^lATES 



department' 

 of^gr^^ultu/ie' 



*/l T i r l/ lj CUl iJAl ' UmibTb. 



OFK-ICE OE-^ 

 I N F ORM ATIOi^-' 



RELEASE, Friday, iIove:Aer 4, 1932 



FOK BROADCAST USE OITLY 



Reading Tine: IC Ilinutes. 



AIUJQMCEi 1^ r And now we'll talce our bi-'^eekly jaunt into the great open 

 spaces nith Uncle Sam's Naturalists in the Bureau of Biological Survey. To- 

 day, 've'll pick our way through the reeds aiid grasses down in the marsh to 

 get acquainted "rith that interesting garne bird the coot, or "mud hen." 



-ooOoo- 



Listenl riear that quacking? 



Sounds like some ducks and coots on domi this little stream. 



I expect we'll find them s"rim:aing around in that little bay where this 

 stream flows into the creek. 



Let's move down in that direction. 



"''e car. follow this little path aloni;^ the bank and come in behind that 

 shack standing on the point running out into the ba;^"". "^e can watch the coots 

 and ducks from the porch of the shack. 



Careful, there'. This p,ith is mighty slipiDery. 



Te're getting closer. You can hear the quacking much louder no'^. 



Listenl ?Iear that kind of high-pitched note and then several deeper 



notes right along close together? 



That ' s a coot . 



And hear that quack? Sounds something like a duck. But it isn't. 



That's a coot, too. 



Funny birds those coots. You can hear then in the swamps and marshes 



night and day. Sometimes, they quack about like a duck. Then, they make 

 this sound and that sound always a rac!:et of some kind. 



Notice ho^-' the stream is widening out? "Te're getting down almost to 

 the bay. 



Listenl Right over there beyond that frin/.e of bushes along the 



bank of the streaml Hear those birds thrashing around in the water? And 

 those coughing sounds? And those frog-like plunks? And that kind of sawing 

 or filing noise? Sounds like a flock of coots down there. If we move over 

 toward the bank maybe we can see them. 



Sure enough I Look riglit through that break in the bushes. There :'ou 



