60 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



On July 19, 1940, Gabrielson noted three pairs of swans be- 

 tween Naknek and Brooks Lake, and on July 21, while flying 

 over the country from Becharof Lake to Egagik, by way of Ruth, 

 Ugashik, and Mother Goose Lakes, he saw numerous pairs of 

 swans with 1 to 5 young among the many tundra pools and lakes 

 of this area. 



According to local residents (1936) , swans nest on small islands 

 in ponds near Ugashik River, and up the river from Nelson 

 Lagoon. At Chignik I was informed that swans nest in Black 

 Lake, the "second lake up Chignik River." Gabrielson was told 

 that they nest in the King Cove-Cold Bay area. 



In 1925, though none were found nesting, a swan was seen 

 flying over Hazen Point in Izembek Bay on June 13, and or 

 July 23 there was a group of three in a lake near the sand dunes 

 there. In the same year, on April 29 and on several subsequent 

 dates, two were seen at Urilia Bay, on Unimak Island, and a 

 trapper said that he saw a few swans in that locality each year. 



More recently, we have precise information that swans nest 

 on Unimak Island, for in 1936 we obtained an egg, which, we were 

 told, had rolled out of a nest on Ikatan Flats. The following year 

 we learned that a pair had returned to the same flats. 



In 1941, Beals and Longworth noted several swans at Unimak 

 Island, and they reported that on August 31 a trapper observed 

 3 pairs near Swanson Lagoon — each pair with 2 young. It is 

 also reported that a pair nested on Ikatan Flats in 1940. 



Chase Littlejohn (manuscript notes) says, "Only a few seen 

 at Morzhovoi Bay, where I know at least one pair reared their 

 young in 1879. I found them with their parents in a lake still 

 unable to fly on August 29." 



Swans are not known to nest west of Unimak Island. 



Dall (1874) reports the killing of three swans at Sanak Island 

 in September 1872 by a sea-otter hunter, who said they were 

 not uncommon there in the fall. 



Apparently, swans have not been considered a part of the 

 fauna of the Aleutian chain proper. Dall stated that they did not 

 occur there, though Turner said a few wintered on Attu Island. 

 It is possible that conditions have changed, for there is ample 

 evidence that swans occur on many of the islands — at least in 

 winter. At Atka Island, the natives assured us that swans winter 

 in the Aleutians, and they specifically mentioned Kanaga and 

 Amchitka, where swans had been observed on the lakes. On 

 Amchitka, we found swan remains among the native buildings, 



