Felica americana -109- 4/28 Jewel Lake, Contra Costa Co., Calif. being moved from the cage to the sacks. The R1 claw clipped on this bird is still & very distinctly clipped - this seems to be a good method of marking hatchling coots. This bird gets band 496-7/1607 tho it is still too small to tag - but should be big enough next week this time. This bird has light gray feathers with dark gray tips covering the pate area - in place of the orange wispe feather around the pate are bleached wispe plumes - there are a few orange wispe feathers on the chin and under the eye - all wax feathers are gone - on the bill the egg tooth is gone and the tip of the bill is (no; just a few wax feathers are present around the base of the bill, hidden by the very light gray feathers present) - the bill is marked as shown here - with the black band just in front nears the tip of the bill is a orangy-gray-green and behind it nears the color gradually blends from a light flesh color to a blood red on the shield - the iris is a very dark opaque gray-green - the dorsal- black body surface is covered by down - very long down - from the nape to the tail and flanks - the wings are still covered with down - and with about a half dozen orange or faded plumes present - the breast and throat area is covered with white