TRUMPETER SWAN. 273 



they have been comparatively strangers, except at rare 

 intervals. Not far in the distant past, they were annually 

 seen with us 011 the large lakes and rivers, and frequent- 

 ly feeding in immense bayous. Of all the birds that 

 swim the waters with shapely forms, gracefulness of 

 proportion, elegance of contour, the swan exceeds them 

 all, as it floats on the bosom of some broad lake, or 

 wide and deeply flowing river. It is larger than other 

 wild fowl, and the rare grace of its movements, the 

 litheness of its arched neck, its jet black bill, with the 

 deep yellow streak running in a diminutive line from the 

 eye, the spotless white, seeming purer and whiter than 

 the drifted snow, attracts our admiration at once. They 

 are the synonym of beauty and grace, and our imagina- 

 tion, however vivid it may be, can picture nothing more 

 graceful, and quietly beautiful, than one of these birds 

 on the water, in its uniform of frosted white. When 

 we see a whiteness that is absolutely colorless, resting 

 inanimately, it attracts our attention, for we see in it, 

 what the world recognizes as an emblem of perfect 

 purity. But when we see the swan, an animated being, 

 moving quietly and gracefully with arched neck, sail- 

 ing so queenly and majestically through the rippling 

 water, gently propelling itself forward with its great 

 wide black feet, the sunshine making conspicuous the 

 glossy white, and faint shadows seeming to flit and 

 follow each other, we gaze in pleasing wonder on the trail 

 of incandescence left in their wake. 



For ages past their beauty, grace and elegance has 

 been recognized. When in ancient times nobility sought 

 to build vessels whose cost was disregarded, whose 

 beauty of design was to reach perfection itself, the 



uppermost thoughts in the mind of the builders were, 



18 



