TRUMPETER SWAN. 



227 



eluded in the fauna of our country, their habits 

 are mainly alike, and I shall therefore deal only 

 with that variety I am most familiar with — the 

 cygnus buccinator, or trumpeter swan, the largest 

 of its kind, and most common to the valley of 

 the Mississippi. 



The trumpeter swan first makes its appearance 

 from the north just before the first severe frosts, 

 and resorts during the day to the large open 

 bodies of water where it may sit far enough 

 from shore to feel secure from its numerous ene- 

 mies. In the early evening it either swims in 

 to the shoal water along the edges to feed, or 

 takes flight to some neighboring shallow pond or 

 slough for the same purpose. Its food, which it 

 never entirely submerges the body to obtain, con- 

 sists of the roots, leaves, and seeds of different 

 vegetables (particularly the roots of pond-weed), 

 aquatic insects, small reptiles, and land-snails. 

 " Often it resorts to the land, and there picks 

 at the herbage, not sidewafys, as geese do, but 

 more in the manner of ducks and poultry." 

 Their flight is commonly in form similar to that 

 of the wild goose, though much fiister and well 

 elevated, particularly when over the land. When 

 alarmed, they are unable to rise or turn side- 



