I saw a scum of Coots one time on the Tecolutla River in Veracruz, Mexico,
but the river was calm.

Mary Teesdale
Bellingham

From: "Jim McCoy" <jfmccoy at earthlink.net>
To: <lavatera at w-link.net>, <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Raft vs flock
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 01:29:53 -0700


"Raft" seems pretty colloquial to me, and I doubt there's a precise
definition. For what little it's worth, I tend to apply the term to a group
of birds only when waves are present, and the birds are staying together
despite being tossed up and down, suggestive of a loosely-constructed
man-made raft. Eiders and scoters assemble in rafts in my mind; wigeons and
teals don't.

Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net

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