TRUMPETER SWAN 255 



Museum ; this specimen came by presentation from J. Richards, Esq. 

 Evermaun (1886, p. 91) records the Trumpeter Swan as a winter 

 visitant in Ventura County, "more common" than the Whistling. 

 Grinnell (1898, p. 13) records two specimens as having been taken 

 in Los Angeles County by A. M. Shields ; but these were subsequently 

 destroyed by fire and the identification has been questioned (Willett, 

 1912a, p. 110). Belding (MS) identified three individuals "by 

 description" in the markets of Stockton sometime previous to 1890. 

 Lansing Kellogg has reported to us that a flock of Trumpeter Swang 

 was noted by him on Buena Vista Lake, December 22, 1893. Dawson 

 (1909, p. 841) says that there has been no definite record for the 

 state of Washington for a number of years. 



Li addition to the citations above given, there are a good many 

 merely nominal ascriptions of the species to California. Actual speci- 

 mens from California do not appear to exist in any American museum. 

 It is quite possible that some of the records nuiy really refer to the 

 Whistling Swan which is still to be found in small mnnbers witliin the 

 state; but that all of tlie records for California should liave been at 

 fault is scarcely {possible. The Trumpeter was once a member of our 

 avifauna, but is now gone. 



In flight the Trumpeter Swan was recognized by its sonorous note, 

 saitl to have been like a French horn in fullness of tone, as compared 

 with the more whistle-like note of the Whistling Swan. In the hand 

 this species may be identified by its large size (20 to 30 pounds, accord- 

 ing to Huntington, 1911, p. 14-5), and by the entirely black color of the 

 long and proportionally narrow bill. 



The Trumpeter Swan is recorded as breeding largely inside the 

 Arctic Circle although it formerly bred much farther south. Mac- 

 farlane {in !Macoun and ]\Iacoun, 1909, p. 135) found several nests 

 of this species "in the Barren Grounds, on islands in Franklin bay, 

 and on the beach one was taken which contained six eggs." Raine 

 {in Macoun and Macoun, loc. cit.) describes a nest found on Buffalo 

 Lake, Alberta, April 7, 1891, as being a large structure, three feet in 

 diameter, composed of sods, grass and rushes and lined with feathers 

 and down. During the molting season in August adult birds are 

 unable to fly. 



In habits the Trumpeter Swan is said to be similar to the Whistling 

 Swan. However, it appears to frequent the fresh waters of the 

 interior to a larger extent than does the latter species, which may 

 indicate a dislike for salt water similar to that shown by certain ducks 

 which breed in the interior. The food consists of the roots, leaves, 

 and seeds of various water plants, and the bird is said to occasionally 

 take aquatic insects, snails and small reptiles, when this type of food 

 is available. 



