WATER BIRDS. 123 



that the relative position of nostril and eye in the two species is not 

 diagnostic. 



Distribution. — Chiefly the interior of North America, from the Gulf 

 coast to the Fur Countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas northward; 

 west to the Pacific coast; rare or casual on the Atlantic. 



The Trumpeter Swan is a decidedly rare bird in Michigan; in fact it 

 probably can be regarded only as a straggler. In his manuscript list of 

 the Birds of S. E. Michigan (1904) Mr. B. H. Swales says "I can add no 

 record to that of Dr. Gamier, who shot one at Mitchell's Bay, St. Clair 

 Flats. Mr. Saunders writes me that he has no record of this bird, and has 

 never seen the above specimen." Dr. Gibbs states that W. H. Collins 

 of Detroit wrote him that he "had several specimens, one taken in 1880." 

 I have not been able personally to verify these records, and since the two 

 swans are readily confused they must be accepted with some caution. 

 Major Boies states that it is "More rare than the Whistling Swan, but 

 occasional in spring and fall on St. Mary's river." There is an adult 

 male now in the National Museum at Washington (No. 70317) which was 

 taken at St. Clair Flats, Michigan, November 20, 1875 (Stejneger, Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. V, 1882, 218). Mr. J. H. Fleming of Toronto, who kindly 

 called my attention to the above record, also states that he has examined 

 a supposed male Trumpeter, taken at Grassy Point, Lake St. Clair, Nov. 

 30, 1887, and now in a local collection at Toronto, which proves to be a 

 Whistling Swan. 



KumHen and Hollister say "Surely a very rare bird in Wisconsin at the 

 present day, and it is not certain that it could at any time during the past 

 sixty years be called common " (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 31). Mr. Albert Lane, 

 Madison, Minn., says "Not common in Minnesota; seven specimens noted. 

 The heaviest ever examined weighed 16 pounds and was fat; one fine adult 

 male weighed 15 pounds" (Auk, XIII, 78). Mr. Butler tells of one shot 

 at Valparaiso, Indiana, February 22, 1894, which weighed 24| pounds 

 and measured 50 inches in length and 83 inches between the extended 

 wing tips. He says this specimen is now in the collection of Mr. Ruthven 

 Deane, Chicago. (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 642). 



In general habits this species does not seem to differ much from the 

 preceding, but it breeds farther south, although apparently some individuals 

 nest as far north as any of the Whistling Swans. The nest and eggs are 

 similar to those of the latter species, but the eggs are larger, averaging 4.46 

 by 2.92 inches. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Hinder end of nostril nearer to the tip of the bill than to the corner of the eye, that is 

 usually nearer the tip than the base of the bill, tail-feathers 24. Adult: Entirely white, 

 as in the preeeding'species, but the legs, feet and bill entirely black, the latter and the 

 lores without any trace of yellow. Young: Similar to that of the Whistling Swan, but 

 without yellow on bill or lores. 



Length 5 to 5^ feet; wing 21 to 27^ inches; culmcn 4.30 to 4.70; tarsus 4.54 to 4.94. 



