LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 295 



delta into Flathead Lake. Tlie morning was chilly, with occasional snow 

 flurries, and we knew that the ducks would be on the move. Leaving the 

 spring wagon behind the strip of brush which fringes the lake shore at this 

 point, we built blinds, set our decoys, and were soon in the midst of a good 

 flight of canva.sb:icks, redheads, and mallards. The sport was the best in 

 my experience, as the birds, in passing from the lake to the sloughs or 

 bayous inshore, offered fine shots. At this place there is a sandy beach a 

 hundred yards in width, while here, and for some miles on either side, it is 

 possible to wade into the lake for another 200 yards without becoming wet 

 above the knees. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon a violent snow squall 

 arose, and in the thick of it my attention was drawn to some white objects 

 which were rising and falling on the waves about a mile oiishore. At times 

 these api)eared like small sailing boats, but when they drew nearer I dis- 

 tinguished a flock of eight swans led by a splendid snow-white bird whose 

 every movement was followed by the others. Two more of the swans were 

 white and the remaining five dark colored. I left my blind and. running along 

 a cattle trail through the brush to the wagon, took my 30-30 Winchester 

 and i-eturned to the edge of the beach. I then fired at the big leading swan, 

 and struck it fairly in the neck at the first shot, although the bird was some 

 200 yards distant. Upon the death of their leader the rest of the flock 

 momentarily bunched up in bewilderment, but, recovering their wits, made a 

 great commotion in their efforts to rise from the water. Having once cleared 

 the lake with their wings, however, they departed at great speed, while I 

 waded through the shallows to retrieve my coveted trophy. The swan was 

 found to weigh a full 31 pounds. 



He describes at considerable length the capture of a trumpeter 

 swan by a shepherd employed by G. B. Christian, of Augusta, 

 Montana, in November, 1907. The man fired a rifle at a passing 

 flock and brought down a bird, which he captured unhurt except 

 for one broken pinion. The bird was kept for a year alive and 

 then presented to the Great Falls Park ; but, as it was not pinioned, 

 it escaped after the next molt and was shot bj' a ])oy and all trace 

 of it was lost. It was a pure white adult of very large size and was 

 supposed to have weighed about 35 pounds. 



In 1913 an Indian offered for sale at Kalispell an immense trump- 

 eter swan from St. Marys Lake, Glacier National Park. It was 

 poorly skinned, not properly poisoned, became infested with beetles, 

 and was burned. Dr. Jonathan Dwight has the head and legs of 

 this swan. 



A female trumpeter swan, now in the collection of Dr. Jonathan 

 Dwight, was shot by a saloon keeper, Ben Schannberg, at Cutbank, 

 Teton County, Montana, in the first week of November, 1913. This 

 was also an immature bird, supposed to have been about 18 months 

 old, and was in a much emaciated condition, but it weighed 20 

 pounds. 



Henry K. Coale (1915) has published an excellent paper on the 

 present status of this swan, in which he mentions three of the above 



