COOT. 
213 
The European ornithologists represent the membrane on the 
forehead of the Fulica atra as white, except in the breeding 
season, when it is said to change its colour to pale red. In eve- 
ry specimen of the Cinereous Coot which I have seen, except 
one, the membrane of the forehead was of a dark chestnut brown 
colour. The one alluded to was a fine adult male, shot in the 
Delaware, at Philadelphia, on the 11th of May; the membrane 
was of s^piire white; no white marking beneath the eye; legs 
and feet of a bright grass green. 
In Wilson’s figure of the Coot, accompanying this volume, 
there are some slight errors: the auriculars are designated, which 
should not have been done, as they are not distinguishable from 
the rest of the plumage of the head and neck, which is all of a fine 
satiny texture; and the outline of the bill is not correct. 
Latham states that the Common European Coot, F. atra, is 
“met with in Jamaica, Carolina, and other parts of North Ame- 
rica.” This I presume is a mistake, as I have never seen but 
one species of Coot in the United States. Brown, in speaking 
of the birds of Jamaica, mentions a Coot, which, in all probabi- 
lity, is the same as ours. The Coot mentioned by Sloane, is 
the Common Gallinule. So is also that spoken of in the Natu- 
ral History of Barbadoes, by Hughes, p. 71. 
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 associ- 
ate in large flocks; it is called the Black Buck. This is doubt- 
less 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 enlight- 
ened government, furnished with every means for safety, sub- 
sistence and research, not one naturalist, not one draftsman, 
* History of the Expedition, vol. ii, p. 194. Under date of November 
30th, 1805, they say; “The hunters brought in a few hlaok ducks of a spe- 
cies common in the United States, living in large flocks, and feeding on 
grass, they are distinguished by a sharp while heak, toes separated, and by hav- 
ing no craw." 
