THE 00L0OI8T. 



105 



not fly, but are rushed forward 

 and a minute or two later are carried 

 over the brink of the precipice and 

 plunged 160 feet into the gorge below. 



Swans are not the only water fowl 

 that are sacrificed at Niagara's shrine. 

 On the occasion of my visit March 

 18th, I saw a handsome male Canvas- 

 back Duck (Aythya valisneria, Wils.) 

 come down against the ice bridge. It 

 was unable to fly but succeeded in 

 extricating itself from the moving ice 

 and gaining a foothold on the bridge* 

 at a point where to attempt to catch 

 it alive would have been a perilous 

 undertaking. Later in the day I saw 

 an American Golden-eye Duck (Glau- 

 cionetta clangula americana, Bonap.), 

 struggle out of the foaming water be- 

 low the Horseshoe Falls into Bass 

 Rock Eddy, and with great difiiculty 

 reach the shore. It made no attempt 

 to escape when picked up. While no 

 external injury was apparent, it was 

 unable to walk or fly. It recovered, 

 however, from its shouck by the time 

 Buffalo was reached, and when oppor- 

 tunity was given, it flew off as strong 

 as ever in the direction of the river. 



Regarding the disposition made of 

 all these swans, which in the aggre- 

 gate, would approximate a ton in 

 weight, I will s'ay that the cygnets 

 were nearly all selected at once for 

 the table, and many a tough old bird 

 as well. A large number, however, 

 have been preserved by the taxider- 

 mists of Niagara Falls and Toronto. 

 Five fine specimens secured by Mr. 

 Ottomar Reinecke are being prepared 

 as a splendid group for the Museum 

 of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sci- 

 ences by its taxidermist, Herman 

 Grieb. The latter reports that the 

 stomachs of the birds examined by 

 him were empty. One specimen, a 

 female, and not the largest, measured 

 51 1-8 inches in length and 81 inches 

 from tip to tip of its extended wings. 

 I saw no less than 50 of these dead 



birds, and looked them over carefully, 

 thinking that possibly there might 

 be a Trumpeter Swan (Olor buccina- 

 tor. Rich.), among them, but none 

 was found. 



While the killing of the wounded 

 swans at the ice bridge was techni- 

 cally lawful, and in a certain light 

 might be regarded as an act of mercy, 

 inasmuch as without human interfer- 

 ence most of the birds would probably 

 have perished from their injuries or 

 by starvation, yet it is greatly to be 

 regretted that as many of the birds 

 as possible were not taken alive and 

 given opportunity to recover. I believe 

 that fully one-third of the swans ta- 

 ken would have survived if given; 

 proper care. But the impulse to kill 

 was stronger than the spirit to save„ 

 and not even a pair of these unfortun- 

 ate birds was secured from nature's 

 doom and restored to nature's free- 

 dom. 



JAMES SAVAGE, 



Buffalo, N. Y.. 

 ■ > ■ 



A. Novel Prize. 



E. W. Campbell, taxidermist, is en- 

 gaged in mounting a beautiful white 

 swan, and the bird will soon be plac- 

 ed on exhibition in the window of 

 Farrer & Peck's drug store, on Water 

 street. There is some interesting his- 

 tory in regard to this swan. It is 

 the property of .John L. Davies, of 

 Sharon, Pa., a former resident of this 

 place, who is engaged in the plumb- 

 ing business in Sharon. Mr. Davis 

 was at Niagara Falls a short time 

 ago, attending a convention of plum- 

 bers, and while there a rather remark- 

 able incident occurred. A flock of 

 whistling swans, apparently in flight 

 from the south of Canada, was 

 seen hovering over the city. A few 

 minutes later the whole flock, num- 

 bering 228 in all, apparently having 

 become exhausted, fell into the Niag- 

 ara river, just aoove the falls, and all 



