66 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



" The Trumpeter Swans make their appearance on the lower 

 portions of the waters of the Ohio, about the end of October. 

 They throw themselves at once into the larger ponds, or lakes, 

 at no great distance from the river, giving a marked preference 

 to those which are closely suiTounded by dense tall cane-brakes, 

 and there remain until the water is closed by the ice, when they 

 are forced to proceed southward. During mild winters I have 

 seen Swans of this species in the ponds about Henderson, until 

 the beginning of March, but only a few individuals, which may 

 have staid there to recover from their wounds. When the cold 

 became intense, most of those which visited the Ohio would re- 

 move to the Mississippi, and proceed down that stream, as the 

 severity of the weather increased, or return if it diminished ; for 

 it has appeared to me that neither very intense cold, nor great 

 heat, suit them so well as a medium temperature. I have traced 

 the winter migrations of this species so far southward as Texas, 

 where it is abundant at times. 



"At New Orleans, where I made a drawing of the young 

 bird here described, the Trumpeters are frequently exposed for 

 sale in the markets, being procured on the ponds of the inte- 

 rior, and on the great lakes leading to the waters of the Gulf 

 of Mexico. This species is unknown to my friend, the Rev. 

 John Bachman, who, during a residence of twenty years in 

 South Carolina, never saw or heard of one of these, whereas in 

 hard winters the Cygnus Americanus is not uncommon, although 

 it does not often proceed farther southward than that State. 

 The waters of the Arkansas, and its tributaries, are annually sup- 

 plied with Trumpeter Swans ; and the largest individual which 

 I have examined, was shot on a lake near the junction of that 

 river with the Mississippi. It measured nearly ten feet in alar 

 extent, and weighed above thirty-eight pounds. 



" The flight of the Trumpeter Swan is firm, at times greatly 

 elevated and sustained. It passes through the air by regular 

 beats, in the same manner as Geese, the neck stretched to its 

 full length, as are the feet, which project beyond the tail. When 

 passing low, I have frequently thought that I heard a rustling 



