TRUMPETER SWAN. 29 



great migratory host to enter our limits, and also to leave 

 them again in the spring. 



The Trumpeter swims rapidly and easily, and when 

 going before the wind raises its wings and uses them as 

 sails to help itself along. It flies very high and in 

 lengthened lines, like the Whistling Swan, and its speed 

 in the air is about the same, possibly one hundred miles 

 an hour under favorable conditions. Its voice is very 

 different from that of the other species, being loud and 

 sonorous, resembling the notes of a French horn, the 

 tone being caused by the various convolutions of the 

 windpipe. 



I do not think that this species, in the localities it fre- 

 quents, is as numerous as is the Whistling Swan in its 

 habitats. It is the prevailing species in California, where 

 it visits the inland fresh waters, and is apparently most 

 abundant on the rivers emptying into the lower Miss- 

 issippi, along the Gulf of Mexico, and in Western Texas, 

 where it is fairly common in winter. It does not differ 

 in its habits from the other species to any appreciable 

 extent. It feeds on roots of aquatic plants, grasses, shell 

 fish, Crustacea, etc.; and procures its food in the same 

 way as the Whistling Swan by immersing the head and 

 neck, and pulling the desired objects from the bottom. 

 It associates in small flocks by itself and is very shy and 

 suspicious. The weight of this Swan varies from twenty 

 to thirty pounds, being, on th'e average, considerably 

 heavier than the other species. It is a trim, well-shaped, 

 handsome bird, and when congregated in numbers on 

 the water has all the beautiful appearance characteristic 

 of its relative. 



Cygne is the popular name given to this species in 

 Louisiana, the same as that applied to the Whistling 

 Swan. 



