84 NOTES ON THE 



The quickened ear hears the honkings of the Pelicans and 

 Geese against the very heavens, and still far above them the 

 trumpetings of this snowy Swan. Their gracefulness of flight, 

 the daring, giddy hight, conspire to fill the soul with adoration 

 for the wonderful, the beautiful. From their exalted pathway 

 of the air, they rarely descend until over the most unfre- 

 quented districts, where before, they have reared their young. 

 Extremely shy, descending in majestic circuits they do not 

 hastily alight, until the section has been most thoroughly 

 reconnoitered and found devoid of man, their cruellest of foes. 



They live mostly upon vegetation both terrestrial and 

 aquatic, and about the first of May nest-building is begun. 

 The structure is loosely formed of weeds, reeds, grass and 

 such other materials as are found convenient to the location 

 and is superficially lined with down from their own bodies. 

 They lay eight to ten pale green eggs. Incubation lasts four 

 weeks, soon after the completion of which, the young follow 

 the parents into the water. Formerly the nests were occasion- 

 ally found at different places all over the State, but of late, none 

 have been reported from any. Still the young of the year are 

 to be seen in the vicinity of the the Red river very nearly 

 every year after the middle of October. The latest recorded 

 date of my personal observations, before their final disappear- 

 ance was November 17th, but I have learned that individuals 

 have been seen still later, which suggests that they were 

 laggers from accidents or gunshot wounds. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill broad and longer than the head; the feathers ending on 

 the forehead in a semi-elliptical outline; nostrils with the an- 

 terior extremity as far forward only as half the commissure; 

 tail of twenty-four feathers; color pure white throughout; bill 

 and legs entirely black; bill without any red spot at the base. 

 Less mature specimens with the head above tinged with 

 reddish-brown. 



Length, 60; wing, 24; bill, 4.50; tarsus, 4.60, 

 Habitat, principally the interior of North America. 



