180 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The trachea is even more convoluted than in the WhistHng Swan, 

 and it well deserves the Latin appellation buccinator — the trump- 

 eter — its rick, mellow notes possessing" a peculiar sonorous qualitv 

 characteristic of the species. The lores and beak are black, un- 

 relieved by any bright color whatever, and this, together with 

 the great size of the bird, makes this swan easy to identify. 



Unlike the Whistling Swan, the Trumpeter haunts by prefer- 

 ence the interior of North America, breeding from the northern 

 United States northward, and occurring rarely, and only as a 

 straggler, on the Atlantic Coast. It migrates southward along the 

 Pacific Coast and down the Mississippi Valley. 



The nesting habits are similar to those of the Whistling Swan, 

 the five to seven chalky white eggs being of unusually large size 

 measuring about four and a half by three inches. The Trump- 

 eter, like the Whistler, feeds on aquatic grasses, shrimp, moUusks. 

 and what organic substances it can gleam from the bottom of 

 shallow marshes and bays. 



This species migrates northward somewhat earlier than does the 

 Whistling Swan, and occasionally the late blizzards almost freeze 

 the birds, compelling them to crowd into the narrow open water 

 at the foot of falls or rapids, where they fall easy victims to the 

 Indian trappers. 



This species breeds readily in confinement, but care must be 

 taken to give the swans plenty of room, as they are liable to kill 

 other birds which approach their nesting site. 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES. 



The so-called Polish Swan (Cygniis iuunittabilis) is merely a 

 quasi-albino race of cygnets of the Mute Swan. 



Cygniis nnivini is, doubtless, the immature of the same species. 



David's Swan {Cygnus davidi), founded on a single specimen 

 now in the museum of the Lazarist Mission in Pekin, is probably 

 onlv a variant of the Bewick Swan. 



