296 ANATID^E : SWANS, GEESE, AND DUCKS. 



FAMILY ANATID^E: SWANS, GEESE AND 

 DUCKS. 



AMERICAN WILD SWAN. 

 CYGNUS COLUMBIANUS (Ord) Coues. 



Chars. Tail normally of 20 feathers. Bill black, with a yellow spot 

 between eye and nostril ; the latter at the middle of the bill ; feet 

 black. Plumage of the adult entirely white ; of younger birds 

 white, washed with rusty on the head ; of youngest, gray or ashy. 

 Length about 4.50 feet. 



Note. The Trumpeter Swan, C. buccinator, probably occurs in 

 New England. It may be distinguished by having normally 24 

 tail-feathers, the bill longer, with the nostrils in its basal half, and 

 no yellow spots. (See Merriam, Rev. B. Conn., 1877, p. 120.) 



According to early records it would appear that these 

 beautiful birds were not uncommon in New England ; 

 but they are certainly of rare occurrence now. Writing 

 in 1632, Thomas Morton speaks of " greate store at the 

 seasons of the yeare " in the Merrimac River and else- 

 where. Linsley speaks of four which were seen, two of 

 them being shot, at Stratford, Conn. Coues, in 1868, calls 

 the Swan a bird "of irregular or at most very rare 

 occurrence in winter " (Pr. Essex Inst., v, 1868, p. 297). 

 Maynard refers to it as having been found at Ipswich 

 (B. E. Mass., 1870, p. 146). Dr. Merriam notices two 

 Swans, supposed to be of this species, seen in Branford 

 Harbor, Conn., during a storm, in March, 1876 (Rev. B. 

 Conn., 1877, p. 120). In 1878 (Bull. Essex Inst., x, 



