NORTH AMERICAN BIRDti. 105 



is said to breed in the large marshes. Here the eggs are usually laid on a tussock 

 entirely surrounded by water, and so near it that the female sometimes sits with 

 her feet in the water. On the islands of Franklin Bay and on those of the Arctic 

 Ocean, the "Whistling Swan constructs a large nest of moss, grass and herbage of 

 various kinds. According to Nelson this fine bird arrives on the shore of Bering 

 Sea in the vicinity of St. Michael's early in May, and in some seasons by the 27th 

 of April. At Nulato, Dall found them laying eggs by May 21, but on the sea coast 

 the earliest date Nelson records is May 30. The ordinary number to a nest is three 

 to six. The nest is usually upon a small island in some secluded lakelet, or on a 

 rounded bank close to the border of a pond. The eggs are deposited in a depression 

 made in a heap of rubbish gathered by the birds from the immediate vicinity of the 

 nest, grass, leaves and moss, forming a bulky affair in many cases. There is some 

 variation in the eggs of this swan; the following measurements show the average, 

 the specimens being taken near St. Michael's in June: 4.15x2.85, 4.05x2.74, 3.96x2.66. 

 They are of a dull white with more or less of a brownish or reddish discoloration. 

 The surface of the shell is usually rough. 



181. TRUMPETER SWAN. Olor buccinator (Rich.) Geog. Dist. Chiefly the 

 interior of North America, from the Gulf Coast to the Fur Countries, breeding from 

 Iowa and Dakota northward; west to the Pacific coast, but rare or casual on the 

 Atlantic. 



During the breeding season the Trumpeter Swan is found almost exclusively in 

 the interior of the northern regions. A few breed in Central and Northern Iowa and 

 in Dakota; from thence northward. Dr. Brewer states that the nests found by Mr. 

 MacFarlane on the barrens of the Arctic coast were usually placed on elevated 

 ground, and they were composed of hay, down, and feathers intermingled. One nest 

 containing six eggs was found near the beach on rising ground; others were observed 

 near the banks of the Lower Anderson River. On the islands in the fresh-water 

 lakes and ponds bordering the north branch of the Saskatchewan River, in British 

 America, a few pairs of the Trumpeter Swan are to be seen throughout the summer. 

 This species is also known to breed in Alaska, as a specimen is noted by Mr. Dall as 

 having been secured, with its eggs, at Fort Yukon by Mr. Lockhart. In Ohio it is a 

 rare migrant and winter visitor. The full grown bird is five feet or more in length, 

 and may be distinguished from the Whistling Swan by its entirely black bill and hav- 

 ing normally twenty-four tail-feathers. The eggs range from two to six in number; 

 chalky-white with a rough surface; sizes from 4.03 to 4.50 long by 2.50 to 2.76 broad. 



182. AMERICAN FLAMINGO. Phanlcopterus ruber Linn. Geog. Dist. At- 

 lantic coasts of sub-tropical and tropical America; Florida Keys. 



This magnificent bird of scarlet plumage is a constant resident of Cuba, the 

 Bahamas and southward; rare at Cape Sable and on the Florida Keys. It is a remark- 

 able bird and of striking appearance, having long legs and neck, the former of a 

 lake-red color. The bill is unique in shape, being abruptly bent in the middle, so that 

 when feeding the upper surface faces the ground. The plumage is scarlet through- 

 out, except the primaries and secondaries, which are black. The stature of the bird 

 is nearly five feet, and it weighs in flesh six or eight pounds. The nest of the 

 Flamingo is described as a mass of earth, sticks and other material scooped up from 

 the immediate vicinity to the height of several feet and hollow at the top. On this 

 the birds sit with their legs doubled under them. Mr. D. P. Ingraham, who has 

 collected a large number of these handsome birds in the West Indies and spent 

 more or less of his time for four seasons among them, has given me the following 



