216 FLAMINGOES 



distance of several miles. Their notes are varied, some resembling the 

 lower ones made by the common tin horn, others running through the 

 various modulations of the notes of the clarionet. These differences are 

 presumed to be dependent upon age." (B., B., and R.) 



181. Olor buccinator (Rich.}. TRUMPETER SWAN. Ads. White, bill 

 and feet black, no yellow on the lores; cutting edge of the lower mandible, 

 at least in spring, reddish; tail usually with 24 feathers Im. Head and 

 neck brownish, rest of plumage more or less washed with grayish. L., 

 65-00; W., 23'QO; Tar., 4'25; Eye to N., 270; N. to tip of B., 2'20. 



Range. Interior and w. N. A. Breeds from the Rocky Mountains to 

 w. shore of Hudson Bay and from the Arctic Ocean to about lat. 60; for- 

 merly bred s. to Ind., Mo., Nebr., Mont., and Idaho, and casually w. to 

 Fort Yukon and B. C.; winters from s. Ind. and s. Ills. s. to Tex., and from 

 s. B. C. to s. Calif.; casual in migration in the Rocky Mt. region of U. S.; 

 accidental in N. Y. and Del. Now of rare occurrence nearly everywhere. 



Nest, of grasses and down, on the ground. Eggs, 2-6, soiled whitish, 

 4'40 x 2'80. Date, Mackenzie Bay, June 17, 1900 (Thayer Coll.). 



The Trumpeter Swan is now one of the rarest of American birds. 

 I know of no recent records of its capture. Heard in captivity, its call 

 has more of a clarion tone than that of the Whistling Swan. 



The WHOOPING SWAN (179. Olor cygnus} is an Old World species which 

 sometimes is found in Greenland. It differs from either of our Swans in 

 having the "basal portion of the bill and entire lores yellow in the adult." 



VI. ORDER ODONTOGLOSSJE. LAMELLIROSTRAL GRALLA- 



TORES 



16. FAMILY PHCENICOPTERID^E. FLAMINGOES. (Fig. 35.) 



The six species included in this family are distributed throughout 

 the tropics. Four species are American, of which one reaches southern 

 Florida in winter. Flamingoes are gregarious at all seasons. Their 

 favorite resorts are shallow bays and lakes or vast mud flats which are 

 flooded at high water. In feeding, the bill is pressed downward into 

 the mud, its peculiar shape making the point then turn upward. The 

 ridges along its sides, as in the bills of Ducks, serve as strainers through 

 which are forced the sand and mud taken in with the food. The wing- 

 quills are molted simultaneously, as with the Anatidce, indicating rela- 

 tionship with that family. 



182. Phcenicop terns ruber (Linn.}. FLAMINGO. (Figs. 17, 35.) Ads. 

 Beautiful rosy vermilion, scapulars and underparts somewhat paler; 

 flanks carmine; primaries and secondaries black; bill red-tinged at base, 

 black at the tip. Im. Above brownish gray, back with black shaft-streaks, 

 scapulars basally pink-tinged; wing-quills black, primary and under wing- 

 coverts pinkish ; below paler than above fading to whitish, pink-tinged on the 

 belly. L., 45'00; W., 16'25; Tar., 12'50; B., 5'50. 



Range. Atlantic coast of subtropical and tropical Am., from the 

 Bahamas, and Yucatan to Brazil, and in the Galapagos; extremity of Fla. 

 in winter; accidental in S. C. 



