22 THE ALU Dau (B2OCNS eB pet eral, 
drying processes rather than pump- 
ing excess water back into the 
nearby Big Muddy River. On the 
same date, eight birds were seen 
feeding in the peninsula. Only two 
families were seen away from their 
nests: two adults and four young, 
and two adults and five young (2,4- 
ZDy: 
On June 10, most of the nests 
were very exposed, some of them 
even connected to dry land. The 
wheat had all turned brown, and 
was beginning to mat down and 
fall over. Most of the flooded wheat 
had rotted below the water level 
and collapsed. Nevertheless, there 
were still ample areas of open 
water, marshy half - submerged 
matted wheat, and dry standing 
wheat. Families of coots foraged 
mostly in the marshy section, but 
occasionally in the open water. 
By June 11, the area stank of 
rotting vegetation. The water had 
become a murky greenish brown, 
and was teeming with inverte- 
brates, many of them mosquito lar- 
vae. The feeding group had dwin- 
dled to five birds, as the eggs con- 
tinued to hatch. 
By June 16, most of the hatching 
had been completed; most of the 
previously standing wheat had col- 
lapsed, and the previously marshy 
areas had been reduced to matted 
stalks about 10 cm. above drying 
mud or shallow water with the 
broken off stubs of wheat stalks 
just showing above the surface. 
Most of the inlets were covered 
with an unidentified bluish-white 
slime. 
At this time, the pair bonds were 
apparently breaking up; the adult 
coots were beginning to regroup. 
A loose group of 11 coots was seen 
swimming in open water, while 9 
more adults were found sitting oh 
a mudbank. Eight families were 
present 2,5 — 2,4 — 2,1 — 0,4 — 
1,3 — 2,5 — 2,6 — 0,2. Although a 
total of 297 eggs had been laid, the 
June 16 total of 28 young was the 
highest ever seen there. 
Although this works out to only 
9.4°%° hatching success, it is defi- 
nitely an underestimate, because 
by this time there had already 
been some chick mortality. Of the 
five nests examined on the 16th, 
one contained a live chick, four 
intact eggs, one pipped egg with 
the chick dehydrated and dead, and 
a few bits of eggshell. (On June 1 
it contained nine eggs.) Another 
nest that had had five eggs con- 
tained three intact eggs with an- 
other floating in the water nearby, 
and no egg fragments. A third nest, 
originally with 10 eggs, contained 
one intact egg and a dehydrated 
pipped egg. The fourth had gone 
from seven eggs to an empty nest 
and one dead chick a meter away. 
The fifth nest had had nine eggs, 
but had dropped to one dead chick 
and no egg or fragments. Neverthe- 
less, two adult birds acted very 
defensive nearby. (There may have 
been some live chicks hiding in the 
vicinity). 
From these examples, it should 
be apparent that there were heavy 
losses of both eggs and hatched 
birds. It should also be pointed out 
that the largest family seen con- 
sisted of six young, while 27 out 
of 38 nests contained more than 
SIX eggs. 
As of June 20, only five adults 
remained; two pairs with young 
and a lone bird. Twenty-five young 
were seen, most of them unattend- 
ed by adults. Although there was 
still a lot of open water, the wheat 
had, for the most part, collapsed 
and was rotting, The waters’ edge 
had been reduced to mudflat with 
protruding wheat stubble, The en- 
tire area seemed deserted and bar- 
ren compared to early June when 
it was thriving marsh full of life 
and activity. 
By June 28, all the adults had 
gone, and only three chicks were 
