144 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI 



Extracts from the statement taken by Sergt. 

 T. C. Davies from Mr. Lawrence Bodie are given 

 below : 



Clairmont, P.O. 



January 26, 1921. 



"In July, 1919, I saw a young swan in the 

 shallow waters of Bear Lake, near my father's 

 farm. I went out and caught it with my 

 hands. I would judge it to be about one 

 week old. I brought it home and turned it 

 loose among our chickens. The Swan was 

 never penned up or held in any way, it was 

 always free to come and go as it wished, it 

 would fly 'round the neighborhood but always 

 returned to our farm, it was quite tame and 

 would follow us around. 



"I wrote the Game Authorities in Edmon- 

 ton, aski ng them for a Permit to have the 

 swan in my possession and also to dispose of 

 it but they informed me that they could not 

 give me any permits. I then tried to get rid 

 of the bird by taking it down to the Lake 

 three miles from the farm and turning it 

 loose, I did this three times but each time it 

 returned to the farm. I then realized that I 

 could not drive it away so let it stay around. 



"About three weeks ago I noticed the swan 

 acting as if it had a cold, it seemed to eat 

 well but its breathing was not free and on the 

 14th of the month I noticed it lying dead in 

 one of the sheds. 



"The dead body of the swan is still in my 

 possession. ... 



"I have now turned the body of the Swan 



over to Sgt. Davies, of the R.C.M.P." 



(Signed) L. E. Bodie. 

 Witness: 



T. C. Davies, 

 Sgt., R.C.M.P. 

 Thus by a strange series of events a specimen 

 of the Trumpeter Swan, Olor buccinator, came into 

 the possession of the Branch. The specimen was 

 well prepared by Wolfe & Hine, taxidermists, of 

 Edmonton, and the sternum and trachea were 

 preserved. It is a cf and of special interest 

 because it is of known age, namely 173^ — ISJ^^ 

 months. Consequently, from it the develop- 

 ment of convolutions of the trachea at that age 

 may be determined, and it indicates of course, the 

 size, weight, and plumage development of the 

 species at that age. 



It furnishes as well a breeding record for the 



species in the Province of Alberta. The only 



other published breeding records for the species in 



that Province of which I am aware are as follows: 



April 7, 1891, nest with 5 eggs, at Buffalo 



Lake; W. E. Raine;i 



Spring 1885, nest with 4 eggs, at Sounding 



Lake, recorded by W. E. Raine,^ on authority 



of a Mr. Sanderson. 



In view of the fact that Coale^ located only 



sixteen Trumpeter Swan specimens with authentic 



data preserved in museums, this specimen will 



form a valuable addition to the collection in the 



Canadian National Museum, to which institution 



it has been presented. 



'Macoun & Macoun — Catalogue of Canadian Birds, 2nd 

 Edition (1909), p. 135. 

 -loc. cit., p. 135. 

 ^The Auk, Vol. XXXII, pp. 82-90. 



MIGRATION OF THE BRANT (Branta bernicla) IN GREENLAND 



By Dr. Morten P. Porsild, 

 Direktor, Den Danske Arktiske Station (The Danish Arctic Station), Disko, Greenland. 



During the years 1919 and 1920, following the publication 

 by the Uominion Parks Branch of a little brochure on The 

 Branl of the Allantic Const, the writer carried on some corres- 

 pondence with Dr. Porsild in regard to the migration of the 

 Brant in western Greenland, and, while on a visit to Ottawa 

 in 1922, Dr. Porsild discu.ssed the matter further, consenting 

 to the publication of the notes. 



The nomenclature of the species is rather confusing, as 

 many writers do not separate the European bird, Branta 

 bernicla (Linn.) from the alleged American subspecies Branta 

 hernirla ylaucogaiiira (Brehm.), the latter bird being differen- 

 tiated as having lighter underparts. 



The American Ornitholoyiifts' Union Check Lint (1910) gives 

 Branta bernicla bernicla as "Kxtralimital", and gives the range 

 of Branta bernicla ijlaucoganlra (Brehm.) = /ir«n(« ijluucogaster 

 Brehm., Handbuch Vogel Deutschl., 1831, 819 (German coast 

 of Baltic Seal as follows: "Range — Northern Hemisphere. 

 Bre<;dB on Arctic islands north of latitude 74° and west to 

 about 100'', and on the whole west coast of Greenland; winters 

 on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts south to North 

 ('arolina, rarely to Florida; has been recorded in the interior 

 from Manitoba, Ontario, C'olorado, Nebra.ska, Wisconsin, 

 Michigan, Indiana, and Louisiana; accidental in British 

 Columhia and Barbadoes." 



Professor W. W. Cooke, in his Distribution and Migration 

 of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, U.S. Dept. of 

 Agriculture, Biological Survey, Bulletin No. 26, 1906, under 

 Branta bernicla glaucogastra (Brehm.) White-bellied Brant," 

 states: "The eastern brant breeds on the west coast of Green- 

 land from Frederikshaab, latitude 62°, northward probably as 

 far as land extends, certainly as far north as the north shore of 

 Grinnell Land, latitude 82° 33', etc., etc." 



Other authors state that in Spitsbergen and northern 

 Europe both light and dark-bellied birds are found. Hartert, 

 Scottish Naturalist, 1917, considers that Branta bernicla {Branta 

 hirnirla ijlaucogastra) is a dimorphic form; if the American bird 

 is separable it is Branta bernicla collaris (Brehm.) 



In a letter to Dr. Porsild on February 27, 1920, the writer 

 stated: "The bulk of the American birds at least, according to 

 the authorities, seem to be of the light-bellied form. The 

 natural route of migration would be for many of these birds to 

 migrate north from Labrador to the west side of Greenland. 

 Probably a good many European birds (Brant) come from 

 Europe to east Greenland by way of Iceland, and no doubt 

 some of them get across to West Greenland. It would seem 

 more natural, however, for such bird.s to go north along the 

 coast of East Greenland instead of swinging south around the 

 southern end of Greenland or perhaps crossing over the center 



