LIFE HISTORIES OF XOETH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 283 



the fact of their descending that stream in place of going up the Yukon, as 

 most of the geese do at this season. 



Courtship. — Alfred M. Bailej^ has sent me the following account 

 of this ceremony which he witnessed in Alaska : 



At Wales I saw swans rarely, the first noted being on June 5, when I wit- 

 nessed as pleasing a performance as it has been my privilege to see. The 

 tundra was still clothed in its winter's coat of white, although pools of bril- 

 liant colors had formed here and there by tlie melting snow. It was in the 

 height of the spring migration, with hundreds of snow geese, little brown 

 cranes, and shore birds in sight continually. Then, far out on the tundra I 

 heard a different call, a cla'Uioring, quavering call, first full and loud and 

 gradually dying down. With the aid of the glasses I made out three swans, 

 possibly two males performing for the benefit of the female. They walked 

 about with arched necks proudly lifted, taking high steps, with wings out- 

 stretched, two birds occasionally bowing to each other, and as they performed, 

 they continually kept calling. After a few minutes in a given place, they took 

 to wing and drifted across the tundra a hundred yards, where the ceremony 

 v/as then repeated. 



Nesting. — Doctor Nelson (1887) describes the nest,' as follows: 



The birds arrive singly or in small parties on the coast, and directly after 

 scatter to their summer haunts. The nest is usually upon a small island in 

 some secluded lakelet, or on a rounded bank close to the border of a pond. 

 The eggs are deposited in a depression made in a heap of rubbish gatliered 

 by the birds from the immediate vicinity of the nest, and is composed of 

 grass, moss, and dead leaves, forming a bulky affair in many cases. On June 

 14, 1880, a swan was seen flying from the side of a small pond on the marsh 

 near St. Michael, and a close search finally revealed the nest. The eggs were 

 completely hidden in loose moss, which covered the ground about the spot, 

 and in which the bird had made a depression by plucking up the moss and 

 arranging it for the purpose. The site was so artfully chosen and prepared 

 that I passed the spot in my search, and one of my nativer hunters, coming 

 close behind, called me back, and thrusting his stick into the moss exposed 

 the eggs. I may note here that whenever the Eskimo of Norton Sound go 

 egging on the marshes they invariably carry a stick 3 or 4 feet long, which 

 they thrust into every suspicious tussock, bunch of grass, or spot in the moss, 

 and if a nest is there it is certain to be revealed by the stick striking the| 

 eggs. They are very expert in detecting places likely to be chosen by the 

 ducks and geese. I have seen my hunters examine the borders of a lake, 

 after I had given it what I considered a thorough search, and unearth in one 

 instance three geese nests and one duck's. This was after I had acquired 

 considerable skill in finding eggs, so it may readily be seen that the birds 

 are very cunning in placing their nests. 



Swainson and Richardson (1831) say of this species: 



This swan breeds on the seacoast within the Arctic Circle, and is seen in 

 the interior of the fur countries on its passage only. It makes its appearance 

 amongst the latest of the migratory birds in the spring, while the trumpeter 

 swans are, with the exception of the eagles, the earliest. Captain Lyon de- 

 scribes its nest as built of moss peat, nearly 6 feet long and 4% wide, and 2 

 feet high exteriorly ; the cavity a foot and a half in diameter. The eggs were 

 brownish-white, slightly clouded with a darker tint. 



