84 NOTES ON THE 
The quickened ear hears the honkings of the Pelicans and 
Geese against the very heavens, and still far above them the 
trumpetings of this snowy Swan. Their gracefulness of flight, 
the daring, giddy hight, conspire to fill the soul with adoration 
for the wonderful, the beautiful. From their exalted pathway 
of the air, they rarely descend until over the most unfre- 
quented districts, where before, they have reared their young. 
Extremely shy, descending in majestic circuits they do not 
hastily alight, until the section has been most thoroughly 
reconnoitered and found devoid of man, their cruellest of foes. 
They live mostly upon vegetation both terrestrial and 
aquatic, and about the first of May nest-building is begun. 
The structure is loosely formed of weeds, reeds, grass and 
such other materials as are found convenient to the location 
and is superficially lined with down from their own bodies. 
They lay eight to ten pale green eggs. Incubation lasts four 
weeks, soon after the completion of which, the young follow 
the parents into the water. Formerly the nests were occasion- 
ally found at different places all over the State, but of late, none 
have been reported from any. Still the young of the year are 
to be seen in the vicinity of the the Red river very nearly 
every year after the middle of October. The latest recorded 
date of my personal observations, before their final disappear- | 
ance was November 17th, but I have learned that individuals 
have been seen still later, which suggests that they were 
laggers from accidents or gunshot wounds. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill broad and longer than the head; the feathers ending on 
the forehead in a semi-elliptical outline; nostrils with the an- 
terior extremity as far forward only as half the commissure; 
tail of twenty-four feathers; color pure white throughout; bill 
and legs entirely black; bill without any red spot at the base. 
Less mature specimens with the head above tinged with 
reddish-brown. 
Length, 60; wing, 24; bill, 4.50; tarsus, 4.60. 
Habitat, principally the interior of North America. 
