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see coots swiruming by the dozens right in among the duckJs, 



Notice the head and neck of one of those coots. The head and neck are 

 a kind of blackish color. The rest of the body has a bluish-slate tint. 



And look at the bill. The coot's big, ivory-white bill makes it 



easy for you to tell a coot from a duck. 



Move over here a little closer to the edge of the stream. 



See those three coots down over the bank there getting their breakfast? 

 I7atch how they walk. They bob their heads and hunch their backs like a 

 guinea fowl. They pick at the seeds and grass just like a chicken. 



Then, take a look at those coots out on the water. 



Watch that one dive down below the surface. He's probably going under 

 after a fish or tadpole. 



Sh-h-h-h Don't move. Tliey see us. 



But they don't seem much afraid. As a usual thing, coots are pretty 

 tame if you don't disturb them too much. 



Let's move on down the stream. I think that old shack is just around 

 the next turn in the path. 



Yes, there's the shack. 



We can cut right across this cleared space and get up on the front 



porch. 



Here we are I This porch gives you a fine view of the whole bay. 



Look at all those ducks and coots, would youl The water is fairly 

 alive with them. 



There goes a gunl I.hist be hunters in a blind across the creek. 



Some of the ducks are taking to the air. 



The coots are getting ready to talce off, too. 



Just look at those coots'. There they go running along on top of the 



water beating the water with their wings and feet. They're making the spray 



fly like an old side-wheeler on the Mississippi. Tliey're trying to get up 

 enough speed to rise off the water, ^at a commotionl No wonder folks call 

 those birds "spatterers ." 



Now they are rising off the water little by little like a heavily- 

 loaded airplane. But they won't go high. A coot usually flies along IC or 

 15 feet above the water. 



They won't fly far , either. Coots never fly long distances except 

 when they migrate. TThen they are trying to get away from an enemy, they 

 usually swim or scurry along on top of the water. 



