TRUMPETER SWAN 



79 



sibly 500 birds are scattered through that rugged region in the summer. 

 Concentrations of more than 200 birds have been counted recently in 

 places where unfrozen water was available in the interior, and we know 

 that there were several other points in the country where smaller num- 

 bers were present. Contrary to the general belief, these birds are not 

 molested by man except in rare instances, and even in early days few 

 were shot, although the young birds are excellent eating. The great 



danger lies in their enemies 

 on the nesting grounds. 

 Eagles and ravens were prob- 

 ably their chief menace at one 

 time, but now the increased 

 range of the coyote, which has 

 invaded parts of the country 

 which formerly offered them 

 haven as their most inviolate 

 sanctuaries, spells nothing 

 but complete disaster unless 

 some remedial action can mi- 

 raculously save them." 



Taverner (1938) says: 

 "The Trumpeter was at one 

 time a fairly common migrant 

 in the Great Lakes section 

 and a regular nester through- 

 out the prairies and British 

 Columbia. Now, only a few 

 small flocks and individual 

 pairs are known in British 

 Columbia, Alberta, and in the 

 Yellowstone National Park, 

 Wyoming. The causes of its nearly complete disappearance were various. 

 It nested in what is now well-inhabited country and it is very difficult 

 to retain such a spectacular bird in communities that are much shot over. 

 Swans are not prolific and once their number is reduced it takes several 

 generations of undisturbed peace to restore them. They are not nearly so 

 wild nor so difficult to kill as the still common Whistling Swan. The lat- 

 ter migrates in great flocks that pitch out in the middle of the larger 

 waters, rarely coming inshore except at night, or when it is perfectly cer- 

 tain that there is no danger. In spite of their great numbers, very few 

 Whistling Swans are shot. The Trumpeter, on the other hand, travels in 

 smaller companies, often family groups, coasts the shore more frequently, 

 often passing the hunter's blind. This difference in habit may have been 

 a determining factor in the disappearance of this bird over most of its 

 range, where the Whistling Swan has survived. In the early days, the 

 Hudson's Bay Company did a very large trade in swan's breast skins; 

 The Trumpeter, being the larger and more valuable bird and more easily 



