WILD SWANS. 227 
The trumpeting swan is quite rare east of the Mississippi 
River, but very common beyond the Rocky Mountains, 
being found from British America to the Mexican bor- 
der. It is pure white in color; the bill and feet are 
black; the tail is composed of twenty-four feathers, in- 
stead of twenty, as in the whistling swan; the bill is 
longer than the head; the feathers on the forehead end 
in a semi-elliptical, imstead of a crescent-like outline; 
and the extremity of the nostril is only half as far for- 
ward as the commissure. This species derives its name 
from its peculiar voice, it being an exception to the gen- 
eral silence of the family—at least to specimens in a 
domestic state. Its notes are rough, loud, and shrill, 
and not unlike those produced on a trumpet or clarionet 
by a man who does not understand playing. These 
notes are often uttered when it is disturbed, annoyed, or 
angry, or when the mates are calling to each other. 
It is not only a very fast swimmer, but it can remain 
long on the wing, and is so wary, where it has been 
pursued much, that it is a difficult matter for persons to 
approach it within gunshot. An adult male is between 
four and five feet in length, weighs from twenty to thir- 
ty-five pounds, and has a spread of wings varying from 
six to ten feet. 
The whistling swan differs from the preceding in sev- 
eral points. It is, primarily, smaller and more widely 
distributed; the bill, which is broad and high at the 
base, is as long as the head; the feathers on the forehead 
end in a semicircular outline; and the anterior extremity 
of the nostrils is forward of the commissure. An adult 
has a length of about fifty-five inches, the wings are 
twenty-two inches long, and the tarsus is about four and’ 
a quarter inches, or a little more. The bill is also 
marked with a yellow spot on the base, so that it has 
distinguishing traits enough to enable persons to readily 
recognize it. Although it 1s distributed throughout the 
