298 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



flew only a few feet directly above the elder, so that it could drop on the 

 parent's back at frequent intervals. The younger swan would fly 50 or 60 

 yards alone, then drop lightly upon the parent's back to rest, being carried 

 for 50 to 60 yards in this manner ; then it would rise upon its own pinions and 

 flap along above the elder bird until it again became weary of its own exer- 

 tions. 



Mr. Cameron sent me the following statement from Ed. Forbes 

 a rancher of Kalispell : 



I punched cows in the Centennial Valley in Beaverhead County from 1883 

 to 1888. During that time I saw quantities of swans, and killed many young 

 birds which we thought good to eat. We used to paddle after them among 

 the tules (bullrushes) and rope them, as they never seemed to learn to fly 

 until ice formed around the shores, and were fearless, big, and awkward. 

 Even then it took them a long, flapping flight to clear the water. The young 

 birds would dive, and come up at a distance of 600 feet when chased with 

 a boat. 



Plumages. — I have never seen a downy young trumpeter swan and 

 can find no description of it in print. We loiow very little of its 

 molts and plumages. Audubon (1840) describes the first winter 

 plumage as follows : 



In winter the young has the bill black, with the middle portion of the ridge, 

 to the length of an inch and a half, light flesh-color, and a large elongated 

 patch of light dull purple on each side ; the edge of the lower mandible and 

 the tongue dull yellowish flesh-color. The eye is dark brown. Tlie feet dull 

 yellowish brown, tinged with olive ; the claws brownish black ; the webs 

 blackish brown. The upper part of the head and the cheeks are light reddish 

 brown, each feather having toward its extremity a small oblong whitish spot, 

 narrowly margined with dusky ; the throat nearly white, as well as the edge 

 of the lower eyelid. The general color of the other parts is grayish white, 

 slightly tinged with yellow ; the upper part of the neck marked with spots 

 similar to those on the head. 



How long it takes for the young bird to reach maturity we do not 

 know, but he speaks of two young birds, seen in captiv^ity, that were 

 about 2 years old and were pure white. 



Food. — Audubon (1840) says of the feeding habits of the trumpe- 

 ter swan : 



This swan feeds principally by partially immersing the body and extending 

 the neck under water, in the manner of fresh-water ducks and some species 

 of geese, when the feet often seen workhig in the air, as if to aid in pre- 

 serving the balance. Often, however, it resorts to the land, and then picks 

 at the herbage, not sidewise, as geese do, but more in the manner of ducks 

 and poultry. Its food consists of roots of different vegetables, leaves, seeds, 

 various aqviatic insects, laud snails, small reptiles, and quadrupeds. The 

 flesh of a cygnet is pretty good eating, but that of an old bird is dry and 

 tough. 



Behavior. — Referring to the behavior of this species, with which 

 he seems to have been quite familiar, he writes : 



The flight of the trumpeter swan is firm, at times greatly elevated and sus- 

 tained. It passes through the air by regular beats, in the same manner as 



