TENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 



179 



1 Kl M.'l.l \.K SWANS. 



fewest in number, they swim to them, otherwise Httle attention is 

 paid to other flocks. 



" Their journey having provided them with sharpened appe- 

 tites, they soon commence to feed by immersing their heads and 

 dragging up the grass from the bottom. If the water is deeper 

 than the length of the neck, the hinder part of the body is tilted 

 up and held in position by paddling with the feet until a quan- 

 tity of tender grass is torn from the bottom. While feeding, usu- 

 ally one or more birds keep a lookout for approaching danger, and 

 should any be descried a warning note is sounded and the flock 

 begins to swim away, heading to windward if possible." 



It is probable that four or five years pass before the perfectly 

 immaculate adult plumage is assumed, the dull gray coat of the 

 first year changing, moult by moult, to a lighter hue. 



THE TRUMPETER SWAN. 



Cygiiiis buccinator {Rich.). 



This is the largest swan in the world, sometimes measuring over 

 five and a half feet from head to tail, and with a spread of wings 

 of eight feet. It occasionally reaches a weight of thirty pounds. 



