640 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



RANGE. The whole of North America, breeding far north; Com- 

 mander Islands, Kamtehatka. Accidental in Scotland. Winters in In- 

 diana and Illinois and south to Gulf of Mexico. 



Nest } in a tussock of grass near the water, often surrounded by it 

 so closely that the bird while sitting on the eggs has her feet sub- 

 merged. Eggs, 2-5; white, often stained with brown; 4.19 by 2.72. 



Not common migrant and rare winter resident. 



They spend the summer far to the north of the United States, 

 breeding at least south to a line from Hudson Bay to Alaska, and not 

 in the United States. 



They migrate late in the fall; November seems to be their month, 

 and I find no earlier records at hand for the Ohio Valley or the lower 

 lake region. Nov. 15, 1894, one was taken at Long Lake, Wabash 

 County. (Ulrey and Wallace, Proc. I. A. S., 1895, p. 150.) 



November 19, 1896, Prof. E. L. Mosely reports it from Sandusky, 

 0., and adds: "It is said to have been seen earlier/ 7 



One killed at Mason, Mich., November 28, 1878. It has also been 

 taken in Michigan in winter. Prof. A. J. Cook informs us that E. A. 

 Lockwood took two in the month of December at South Haven. (Birds 

 of Michigan, pp. 47, 48.) My friend, Mr. B. T. Gault, informs me 

 he saw nine swans, species unknown, near Thayer, Newton County, 

 Indiana, January 18, 1892. Seven swans were seen on Swan Pond, 

 Daviess County, in the spring of 1897. (Chansler.) 



The return journey to their breeding grounds is made in March and 

 early April. They are more often seen in spring than fall, some- 

 times being not uncommon at that time in the northern part of the 

 State. Mr. Nelson notes that they were unusually numerous in the 

 spring of 1876 in the vicinity of Chicago. (Birds N. E. Illinois, 

 p. 136.) 



The earliest spring record is that of a specimen in my collection, 

 shot by Stephen McKeown, in Franklin County, March 7, 1888. 



Mr. L. T. Meyer reports it from Lake County March 8, 1888; Mr. 

 Ruthven Deane saw nine at English Lake March 11, 1894, but did 

 not identify them. 



Mr. R. B. Trouslot informs me that there is a specimen in the High 

 School at Valparaiso that was taken in Porter County March 22, 1887. 



Prof. Evermann says that it is more often seen in Carroll County 

 in spring. There is a specimen in the collection of Cuvier Club, Cin- 

 cinnati, from Indiana (Dury); also, one in the State Geologist's office 

 at Indianapolis from Decatur County. Mr. Parker saw five swans 

 flying over Calumet Lake, Illinois, and about fifty on the Kankakee 

 River at Kouts, Incl.. March 31, 1894, but did not determine the 



