WHISTLING SWAN 



259 



T^" 



Fig. 41. Side of tarsus and foot of 

 Whistling Swan. Natural size. 



Note that tarsus is shorter than middle 

 toe without cdaw. 



Three characters are serviceable in dis- 

 tinguishing the adult Whistling Swan 

 from the Trumpeter Swan, the other 

 species which was once found within the 

 state, but is now thought to be extinct. 

 The Whistling Swan is smaller, it has a 

 yellowish spot at the base of the upper 

 mandible on each side, just in front of the 

 eye, and the bill is 

 shorter, and broader, 

 particularly towards 

 the end (fig. 40). 

 Birds of the year may 

 be readily distinguish- 

 ed from adults even 

 in flight and at con- 

 siderable distance by 

 the leaden cast of 

 their coloration which con- 

 trasts strongly with the snowy 

 white plumage of the adults. 

 In all the specimens at hand, 

 of all ages, however, there is 

 more or less rusty over-wash 

 on the feathers, probably ac- 

 quired from something in the water in which the 

 birds almost completely immerse themselves when 

 feeding. 



In Alaska the Whistling Swan frequents 

 forest-bordered lakes in the interior as well as the open lakes which 

 dot the lowdands of the delta country. The nest is a bulky affair con- 

 structed of grass and moss, about three feet in diameter at the base and 

 about 18 inches high (Macoun and Macoun, 1909, p. 134). Nelson 



