Order /\nserif< 



nsenrormes 



Ducks, Geese, and Swans: family Anatidae 



Whistling Swan: 



Cygnus columbianus (Ord) 



DESCRIPTION. Adults: Plumage pure white, bill black, large, and high at the base, 

 with a naked space reaching the eyes. Lores usually with a small yellow spot. Dis- 

 tance from the eye to the back of the nostril greater than the rest of the bill. Young 

 birds ashy or tinted with brownish. (Adapted from Bailey.) Downy young: "The 

 downy young is described by Dr. D. G. Elliott (1898) as 'pure white, bill, legs, and 

 feet yellow'; but the young of European swans are all either pale grayish-white or 

 grayish-brown." (Bent) Si%e: Length about 54.00, wing 2.1. 00-2.2.. oo, bill 3.80- 

 4.2.0. Nest: Mound of moss, grass, and other vegetable matter. Eggs: 2. to 7, usually 

 4 or 5, creamy white to dull white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds north of Arctic Circle from northern Alaska to 

 Baffin Island south to St. Lawrence Island and Alaska Peninsula. Winters on Atlan- 

 tic Coast from Massachusetts to Florida and on Pacific Coast from southern Alaska to 

 Lower California. In Oregon: Migrant and winter resident, most abundant in Octo- 

 ber, November, February, and March in migration, but present from September to 

 May. 



LEWIS AND CLARK (1814) first reported the magnificent Whistling Swan 

 (Plate 2.1, A) the largest wild fowl that can still be found in Oregon 

 from the mouth of the Columbia River on January 2., 1806, and a few of 

 the snowy birds still winter along that stream from Portland westward. 

 Nearly every writer since has mentioned it, and it is still fairly common 

 within the State. It is most abundant of course during the migratory 

 movement of the swans from their Arctic breeding grounds to their 

 winter home in California, but it is present from September to May 

 (earliest date, August 2.0, Klamath County; latest, June 13, Malheur 

 County). Two stragglers were observed on September 2.0 and May 2.6, 

 the earliest and latest dates, respectively, on which more than a single 

 bird was seen. During February, March, and early April, and again in 

 October and November, the birds can be seen by the hundreds, if not by 

 the thousands. As late as 1912., the wardens at Malheur Lake estimated 

 from 10,000 to 2.0,000 at one time on the lake; and Gabrielson counted 

 more than 900 on February 2.4, 192.8, and 565 on March n, 192.9, on 

 Spring Lake, a small body of water in Klamath County. Jewett's notes, 

 covering Klamath, Harney, and Lake Counties particularly, contain many 

 references to a hundred or more birds or to their great abundance. 



The main stopping places for the Whistling Swan in Oregon are the 



