This American Coot was around for two days and then disappeared.

Coots are more aquatic than aerial, and skitter across the water before taking flight. I was standing above this one and when it noticed me, it took off running on the water, never really getting into the air. It was faster than my camera, hence no pictures of it getting away.

While watching the PBS series, The Life of Birds, I learned that coots lay five or six eggs. After they hatch, the parents take them into the water and feed them almost constantly for about three days. Then the mother stops feeding one of the hatchlings, and badgers it when it cries for food, taking its head in her mouth, until it dies of starvation. She then selects another and does the same thing until there are only three offspring left.