64 



COMMON COOT. 



der parts are hoary; vent black; beneath the tail pure white; pri- 

 maries and secondaries slate, the former tipped with black, the 

 latter with white, which does not appear when the wing is closed; 

 outer edges of the wings white ; legs and toes yellowish green, the 

 scalloped membrane of the latter lead color ; middle toe, includ- 

 ing the claw, three inches and three quarters long. 



The bird from which the foregoing description was taken, 

 was shot in the Delaware, below Philadelphia, the 29th of October, 

 1813. It was an old male, an imcommonly fine specimen, and 

 weighed twenty-three ounces avoirdupois. It is deposited in Peale's 

 Museum. 



The young birds differ somewhat in their plumage, that of 

 the head and neck being of a brownish black ; that of the breast 

 and shoulders pale ash; the throat gray or mottled; the bill 

 bluish white ; and the membrane on the forehead considerably 

 smaller. 



I have never been able to procure an old female, all those 

 which I have seen being young ones. They very much resemble 

 the young males; all the difference which was perceptible was as 

 follows: breast and shoulders cinereous ; markings on the bill 

 less ; upper parts of the head, in some specimens, mottled ; and 

 being less in size. 



The lower parts of these birds are clothed with a thick down, 

 and, particularly between the thighs, covered with close fine fea- 

 thers. The thighs are placed far behind, are fleshy, strong and 

 bare above the knees. 



Sloane says that " the trachea arteria of the Coot is branched 

 into two, just under the base of the heart, and is compressed as 

 that of the Ardea carulea nigral The gizzard resembles a hen^s, 

 and is remarkably large and muscular. That of the bird which 

 has been described was filled with sand, gravel, shells, and the 

 remains of aquatic plants. 



Buffon describes the mode of shooting Coots in France, par- 



