251 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



SWIMMING BIRDS. 



SWANS, in my lengthened experience, I have never seen in 

 lower latitude than the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and 

 it requires very severe weather indeed to force them further 

 southward ; however, they are occasionally found on the 

 coast of Georgia. Last season I spent the winter upon a 

 large arm of the sea in Maryland, and as the frosts were 

 unusually protracted, swans were abundant. Their ordinary 

 habitat may therefore be considered to stretch from 

 Virginia to the Arctic regions ; in the latter they spend 

 their summer. As they are of little use for the table, 

 but seldom commit damage to the crops, and are extremely 

 ornamental, it is a great pity to destroy them, and, thanks 

 to their extreme wariness, this is seldom accomplished. 

 Moreover, they are so powerful on the wing, and their 

 covering of down so dense, that they must be within 

 easy range for the gunner to bring them to bag. As a 

 rule, I confidently believe that half these birds that are 



