^°^9if ^^] Fleming, The Niagara Swan Trap. 445 



THE NIAGARA SWAN TRAP. 



BY J. H. FLEMING. 



Since the great Swan disaster of March, 1908,' Whistling 

 Swans {Olor columbianus) continue to settle in the upper Niagara 

 River in spring, and floating with the current, a whole flock is 

 sometimes caught in the rapids and swept over the Falls ; once in 

 the trap there seems slight chance of escape, though some birds 

 survive the trip over and of these a few, by flying up the river, are 

 able to surmount the Falls and escape. The natural route of 

 escape down the river is barred, as the birds object to flying over 

 the ice or under the Upper Suspension Bridge, and they usually 

 fail to get high enough in the air to clear the Falls. 



The spring of 1909 was notable at Niagara for the amount of 

 ice that filled the gorge below the Falls leaving very little open 

 water. I am indebted to Mr. J. S. Wallace for the following 

 account of the losses of that spring. "On Sunday, March 2Sth, 

 eleven swans were taken on the ice bridge below the Falls, Mr. 

 Leblond getting seven of these, one of them alive and in such good 

 condition that it is now being fed and cared for, and is becoming 

 quite tame and appears to be practically uninjured; another of 

 the eleven mentioned above is also alive and to all appearances 

 uninjured. 



" In addition to those taken Leblond saw^ five others rise from the 

 ice bridge and fly off up the river apparently uninjured, although 

 he does not know that these five were carried over the Falls. The 

 day on which the birds were taken was neither foggy nor wet; 

 so that these accidents to the birds apparently happen at any 

 time. 



"About 150 to 200 birds were seen on the river above the Falls 

 on the 28th, and another lot of 25 or 30 were seen flying up the river 

 one day near the end of last week (about March 30). 



" The ice bridge extends from the Upper Suspension Brid^ almost 

 to the foot of the Falls, and gives the hunters very little chance to 

 secure ducks or other game which may come over at present." 



'Auk, 1908, pp. 306-309. 



