432 



LAM KLLl ROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



! 



ill order to hit it nt all, the hunter must take sight at a point several I'eet in advance 

 of the bill. Hearne thinks tliat its speed, when Hying before the wind in a brisk 

 gale, cannot be less than a hundred miles an hour. When nu)ving against or across 

 the wind, however, it makes slow progress, and is more easily shot. 



Captain lUakiston mentions jmtcuring a specimen at Fort Carlton, on the Sas- 

 katchewan, on the ;{(>th of ^larch. It was the iirst of th(^ spring migration; it was 

 a male bird, and weighed twenty-three pounds. Mr. liernard Jvoss found this species 

 eunuuon on the Mackenzie Kiver, and Mr. IJ. Urowim includes it in his list of tlic 

 birds of Vancouver Island. 



The Journal of ilajor Long's Expedition to the IJocky Mountains refers to 

 Swans, which were i)roliably this species, seen passing northward as early as the ;i2d 

 of February. This liird is anu)ng the first of tlie migratory ones to reach Hudson's 

 Bay, where it apjjcars in Hocks of fnnn twenty to a hundred. It is .strictly mouogii- 

 mous, and breeds in the islands and in low grounds among the reeds and sedges. 

 making its nest of leaves and dry grasses. It lays from five to seven eggs of a dirty- 

 white color. The young are hatched in July, and in August the moulting season 

 connnences, when, for a while this Swan is unable to Hy. It begins to nu)ve south- 

 ward about the 1st of Seiitember, resorting to the lakes and rivers about the (JOth 

 parallel, where it renuiins until October. Its manner of nugration is said to be almost 

 identical with that of the nnn'rlcdinis. the birds collecting in Hocks of c(msi(h'rablc 

 size, and, availing themselves of favorable Avinds, when they nu)unt high in the air, 

 forming an elongatt-d wedge, and departing with loud sonorous screams. They reacli 

 their places of winter resort late in October or early in Novend)er, and their ariival 

 is nuirked by the sanu' outbursts which attend the coming of the smaller species. 

 under similar circumstances. 



Although not able to Hy when moulting, this bird cannot be readily taken in tliat 

 condition, as its large feet, ])owerfid leg, and vigorous wings enable it to riui on tlic 

 surface of the water faster than an Indian can i)addle his canoe ; and to capture it liy 

 hand i« rendered almost imjtossible, by the circumstance that resort is had to diving 

 and other skilful nuuKvuvres to facilitate escape. 



A nest of this species was founil by Mr. W. C'. Kice at Oakland Valley, la., in 

 the spring of 1871, ami the Cygnets taken from it. Three of these were successfully 

 raised, and were ])urehascd for the Mount Auburn Cenu'tery, where they were received 

 in I)ecend)er. They bore their transjuirtation, in a week of iini)aralleled severity Im' 

 the season, withovit injury, and were renuirkably docile and tanu'. In the summer 

 months when at large they would h'ave their pond and seek the companionshi]) ol 

 their keeper, whose occupation as painter occasionally retpiired his iiresence on tlic 

 grounds near their place of abode. If ])ermitted they would spend the day in liis 

 company rather than remain in their poml. They were perfectly and completely 

 domesticated, and showed no fear of any perscm, feeding from the hands of any 

 stranger. This Swan has also been domesticated in the cemetery in Cincinnati, a 

 pair of the progeny having l)een sent to the Loudon Zoological Gardens, and another 

 to Mount Auburn. 



Mr. Audidwn states that these Swans a])pear on the lower waters of the Ohio about 

 the end of October, in the larger ])onds and lakes at no great distance from the river. 

 preferring such as are closely surrounded by dense and tall cane-brakes. There they 

 remain until the water is frozen, when they move southward. During mild winteis 

 a few remain in these ponds until March. Mr. Audubon traced the winter migrations 

 of this species .as far south as Texas, where at times it is quite abundant. He met 

 with a pair there that had lu'en taken alive in the winter of 1836, and had been 



