228 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
Continent, yet its favorite haunts are the regions beyond 
the Rocky Mountains, where it may be seen in herds 
numbering from ten toa thousand. These herds are so 
tame that they frequently fly close enough to the land to 
enable persons to shoot at them, and even on the water 
they are rather unsuspicious, comparatively speaking, 
and are much more easily approached in a sneak-boat 
than either ducks or geese. The market hunters of 
the Pacific Coast shoot them for their plumage alone, as 
this brings a good price, swans-down being largely used 
for trimming the garments of fashionable ladies; it is 
also exported in considerable quantities by the Hudson 
Bay Company, as it meets a ready sale in France and 
Russia. Few sportsmen kill adult swans for the sake of 
their flesh, as it is rather dry and tough, but that of the 
cygnets is quite palatable, though inferior to the meat of 
young ducks and geese. 
One cause of the toughness of the adult is, that the oil 
contained in the skin dries into the flesh, unless the bird 
is plucked immediately after being shot; but if that is 
done, and the carcass is hung up until it gets a little 
high, a hungry man would have slight cause for criticis- 
ing the daintiness of roast swan. The carcass should be 
allowed to hang as long as possible, especially in winter, 
as the frost seems to take away much of the fishy taste 
which it has in the autumn and early winter. The 
greatest enemies of. the swans on the Pacific Coast are 
the Indians, for they slaughter them at all times, and 
even devour the eggs, if they can find them. One sav- 
age is more destructive to these birds than a dozen white 
pot-hunters, for the latter have some scruples, but the 
former has none. Some of the littoral Indians of the 
Pacific kill large numbers, of all ages and sexes, in July 
and August, when the young broods are unable to pro- 
tect. themselves, and the adults are so defenceless from 
moulting that they can neither run nor fly. The red 
