104 



THE OOLOGIST. 



dead specimens have been found on 

 the shore of Lake Ontario near Niag- 

 ara River, after the ice had been bro- 

 ken up in the spring." While it may 

 be true that birds sometimes fly into 

 the falls from the gorge below^, I 

 know that the swans in the present 

 instance went over the precipice from 

 the upper river. They were seen 

 above the rapids before eleven o'clock 

 in the morning of March loth. 



After a long tiresome flight from 

 Chesapeake Bay, the open water of Ni- 

 agara River would be a welcome 

 sight to this ill-fated flock of Wild 

 Swans. Resting from their labors, 

 they probably dropped down stream 

 unsuspecting danger until to late to 

 save themselves fi(.m plunging into 

 the turbulent watcs of the Canadian 

 Rapids. 



These rapids begin abruptly with 

 a drop of about ten feet in a line run- 

 ning across the river from the head 

 of Goat Island to the gate house of 

 the Ontario Power Company on the 

 Canadian shore. I have watched gulls 

 float down over the crest and spring 

 into the air from the descending wa- 

 ter. "Swans being so large and heavy 

 cannot easily take wing, but are oblig- 

 ed to force themselves over the wa- 

 ter against the wind by rapid and 

 powerful beats of the wings and feet 

 until obtaining the requisite momen- 

 tum, they are lifted into the air." "The 

 Wild Fowl of the United States," by 

 Daniel Girard Elliott. When they 

 reach this line ot breakers they are 

 probably carried down and complete- 

 ly submerged, after which, by reason, 

 of confusion cr inability, they can- 



Bass Rock Edriy at extreme left, Ice Bridge and American Falls in 



distance. 



