FAM. L. DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



279 



Wtistling Swa-n 



Tminpeter Swan 



1. Whistling Swan (180. Olor columbit,nus). — An exceedingly- 

 large, very long-necked, swimming bird, with the plumage 

 ■white throughout. Peet and 

 bill black, with a yellow spot 

 on the lores. Young gray- 

 ish with a brownish head. 

 When feeding, this swan is 

 very noisy, especially at 

 night. Its " notes are ex- 

 tremely varied, some closely 

 resembling the deepest base 

 of the common tin horn, 

 while others run through 

 every modulation of false 

 note of the French horn or clarionet.'' These different notes 

 are supposed to be given by birds of different ages. Eare on 

 the Atlantic coast north of Virginia. 



Length, 56 ; wing, 22 ; tail, 7J ; tarsus, 4 ; culmen, 4. North America ; 

 breeding in the Arctic regions, and wintering along the South Atlantic 

 States. 



2. Trumpeter Swan (181. Olor huccinhtor). — Like the last 

 but larger and without the yellow spot on the bare skin in 



front of the eye. 

 Young with the body 

 grayish tinted and 

 the head and neck 

 somewhat brownish. 

 Rare east of the Mis- 

 sissippi. The habits 

 are about the same as 

 in No. 1, but the notes 

 Whistling Swai ^''^ mo^e musical. 



- Length, 64 ; wing, 24 (21-28) ; tail, SJ ; tarsus, 4| ; culmen, 4^. Chiefly 

 in the interior of North America ; breeding from Iowa northward, and 

 wintering along the Gulf States. Its habitat extends from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific but it is very rare along the Atlantic. 



