BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 201 



the dying Swan, so often the theme of the poet. Elliot says 

 that he has killed many Swans which never uttered a sound; 

 but once on Currituck Sound, N. C, he and Mr. F. W. Leg- 

 gett fired at some Swans passing high over head, and one of 

 them, mortally wounded, set its wings and began its death 

 song, "which was continued until the water was reached, 

 nearly half a mile away." The song was plaintive and musi- 

 cal, and at times sounded like "the soft running of the notes 

 in an octave." Dr. Elliot found upon inquiry among the 

 gunners that others had heard somewhat similar tones from 

 dying Swans. Thus another myth of the olden time becomes 



a reality. 



With the first signs of spring the Swans marshal their 

 depleted lines, and, rising high in air, set out for the shores 

 of the Arctic Sea, where lies their only hope of safety and 

 security. 



Note. — The Whooper Swan (Olor cygnns) of Europe is noted by 

 Knight in his Birds of Maine (page VU). This is a bird of the northern 

 parts of the Old World, but occasionally visits Greenland. Knight refers 

 to the taking of a specimen in Washington County, Me., by Charles S. 

 Hunnewell. This was recorded by C. H. Clark (Jour. Me. Orn. Soc, 1905, 

 p. 23), but the record is not mentioned in the third edition of the Ameri- 

 can Ornithologists' Union Check-List. 



Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots. 



This family of marsh birds, known to naturalists as the 

 Rallidoe, is a large and important one, which occupies a posi- 

 tion between the Herons and the shore birds. The members 

 of the family are of small or medium size, with rather long 

 narrow bodies and large strong legs and thighs, which prob- 

 ably have been developed by the effort of wading in mud 

 and pushing the body through the tall grass, reeds, canes 

 and water plants among which these birds find refuge. The 

 feet usually are formed for walking, and the toes are long 

 enough to support the body in passing over mud or floating 

 water plants. The Coots, however, have the foot peculiarly 

 adapted for swimming. It is intermediate between that of a 

 Grebe and that of a Phalarope. Each toe is provided with 



