55 



THE TRUMPETER SWAN. 



CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47. 



Nor are their musical abilities confirm- 

 ed by examination Of their vocal appara- 

 tus. The windpipe is three feet long 

 and is coiled up in a horizontal coil, in a 

 cavity of the keel of the breast bone, 

 doubling on itself and then emerging to 

 return to the lungs. There are no laryn- 

 geal muscles or other apparatus for mod- 

 ulating the voice as is the case with sing- 

 ing birds. The extreme length and flexi- 

 bility of the neck, their movements and 

 attitudes when in the water, are prover- 

 bially graceful and elegant. "Her neck 

 was iike the swan's" says Burns of Anna 

 Laurie, while "graceful as a swan" and 

 soft as swan's down" are common 

 figures. 



The nest of the trumpeter is a large 

 mass of reeds and rushes, placed on the 

 ground in marshy places in which it lays 

 six to ten, dirty white oval eggs 4x2.5 

 inches in size. They breed from Iowa 

 and Dakota northward, chiefly in the 

 Mississippi Valley. 



OLOR AMERICANUS. 



"The whistling swan, rare in the inter- 

 ior but common near the coasts, especial- 

 ly of the Artie region of the continent. 

 The whistler weighs twentj r -f our pounds. 

 It is common off the Chesapeake from 

 November to March, then going north 

 to breed. Under 5 years old it is consid- 

 ered the finest eating of any water fowl 

 on the bay, having the flavor of the 

 goose, but far more tender. It is very 

 noisy, and the 'song of the swan' which 

 is audible for several miles, varies from 

 the lower notes of a tin horn through 

 the various modulations of the cornet. 

 On the bay they are taken by sailing 

 down on them as they rise hard against 

 the wind and shooting them through the 

 long neck. The dowuy body is shot 

 proof. Hunters also paddle into the 

 flocks, wearing white dresses, and with 

 boats covered with ice, then knocking 

 them down with poles. These birds 

 molt in July and then cannot fly. At 

 that time the Indians about St. Michaels, 

 Alaska, spear them with bone tridents." 

 Its nest and eggs are similar to those of 

 the trumpeter swan. It breeds only in 

 the far north. C. L. M. 



An Australian naturalist has recently 

 discovered that the sponge has a well de- 

 veloped nervous system which he has ac- 

 curately described. 



Grass Lake, Mich., Nov. 6th, 1885. 

 Editor Ornithologist, Dear Sir: — 

 As I have a few moments at my dis- 

 posal thought I would inform the readers 

 of your paper of a little adventure I had 

 this season, I had noticed a shite-poke 

 several times flying around an old crows 

 nest and though believing that they al- 

 ways built on the ground my curiosity 

 was aroused. — she had been seen carry- 

 ing sticks and other material into those 

 woods — and I determined to climb to the 

 nest. The next time I went that way I 

 took my climbers along and up I went, to 

 the "tiptop," the supposed crows nest 

 turned out to be a red squirrel's nest and 

 I proceeded to investigate, where, too I 

 was surprised to find it occupied not by 

 the squirrel, oh no! but by bumble bees, 

 who gave me to understand by their 

 buzzing that I was not welcome. " It was 

 a hot day but the rapidity with which I 

 descended that tree was astonishing. 



On my way home I struck with my 

 boat an old stump, you can imagine my 

 surprise to find that also occupied, not 

 by bumblebees but by a black capped 

 chickadee, the set contained seven eggs 

 which I took with the nest as I supposed 

 the bird would forsake it, as the roof of 

 her house had been knocked off. I 

 found several other sets of various kinds 

 and returned home well pleased with my 

 hours work. Respt. Yours, 



F. H. O. 



FLYCATCHER. 



Kingbird. 



(TYRANNTJS CAROLINENSIS) 



A common summer resident arriving 

 about May 1st. Nest composed of dry 

 stalks, weeds, and grasses, and often con- 

 tains the weed know as ladies tobacco. 

 An eccentric one once placed her nest 

 underneath a trustle bridge over which 

 trains were constantly "passing. The 

 nest in this case was composed" chiefly 

 of greasy tow. 



Least Flycatcher. 



(empidonax minimus.) 

 Common summer resident. Arrives 

 about the 20th of April and departs be- 

 fore September 15th. Her nest is com- 

 posed of cottony substances, threads and 

 occasionaly hair. They capture insects 

 with surprising celerity. Darting from 

 some branch where they have been 

 perched in waiting they snap in their 

 prey with a clip of the bill and return to 



