238 NATATORES. 



the flock reposes, one or more ganders stand on the 

 watch. At the sight of cattle, horses, or animals of 

 the deer kind, they are seldom alarmed, but a bear 

 or a cougar is instantly announced ; and if on such 

 occasions the flock is on the ground near water, the 

 birds immediately betake themselves in silence to the 

 latter, swim to the middle of the pond or river, and 

 there remain until danger is over. So acute is their 

 sense of hearing, that they are able to distinguish 

 the different sounds or footsteps of their foes with 

 astonishing accuracy. Thus the breaking of a dry 

 stick by a deer is at once distinguished from the same 

 accident occasioned by a man. If a dozen of large 

 turtles drop into the water, making a great noise in 

 their fall, or if the same effect is produced by an 

 alligator, the Wild Goose pays no regard to it ; but 

 however faint and distant may be the sound of an 

 Indian's paddle, that may by accident have struck 

 the side of his canoe, it is at once marked, every in- 

 dividual raises its head and looks intently toward 

 the place from which the noise has proceeded, and 

 in silence all watch the movements of their enemy." 

 Of the Swan family we have two species, the 

 American Swan and the Trumpeter Swan. The lat- 

 ter appears to be exclusively a western species, being 

 most abundant in the vicinity of the Mississippi, Mis- 

 souri, and other western rivers, during Winter, and 

 breeding from California northward to the fur coun- 

 tries. The American Swan is found in Winter along 

 the Atlantic coasts, sometimes in considerable num- 

 bers, particularly in Chesapeake Bay, but appears to 



