194 



GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



WHISTLING SWAN {Olor columhianus) . 



Length. — 50 to 55 inches. 



Adult. — Bill as long as head; feathers on forehead end in semicircular 

 outline; nostrils extend forward beyond basal half of bill; plumage 

 pure white, sometimes with rusty spots on head, neck and body; beak 

 white; feet black; lores black, with orange or yellow spot before eye. 



Young. — Gray; sometimes lead color first year; bill reddish. Second 

 year, plumage lighter; bill white. Third year, plumage white, gray 

 mottled; bill black. Plumage all white about fifth year. 



Notes. — Principally a high "flageolet-like" note; very different from the 

 trombone-like tones of the Trumpeter. Varied murmurings from high 

 to low, but with less volume than those of the Trumpeter Swan; the 

 leader of the flock calls ivho-who-ivho in a very high key, and in re- 

 sponse comes a chorus of weird sounds (Elliot). 



Season. — Rare straggler in spring, autumn and winter; formerly abundant. 



Range. — Formerly North America, from the latitude of Georgia to the 

 coasts and islands of the Arctic seas; now rare or absent on the At- 

 lantic seaboard north of Chesapeake Bay; breeds in Alaska and on 

 Arctic islands from about latitude 74 degrees south to northern Mac- 

 kenzie and northwestern Hudson Bay; winters to Louisiana, Texas 

 and South Carolina, rarely to Florida; casual in northern Mexico; 

 accidental in Scotland and Bermuda. 



