WATER BIRDS. 123 
that the relative position of nostril and eye in the two species is not 
diagnostic. 
Distribution.—Chiefly the interior of North America, from the Gulf 
coast to the Fur Countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas northward; 
west to the Pacific coast; rare or casual on the Atlantic. 
The Trumpeter Swan is a decidedly rare bird in Michigan; in fact it 
probably can be regarded only as a straggler. In his manuscript list of 
the Birds of 8. E. Michigan (1904) Mr. B. H. Swales says ‘“‘I can add no 
record to that of Dr. Garnier, who shot one at Mitchell’s Bay, St. Clair 
Flats. Mr. Saunders writes me that he has no record of this bird, and has 
never seen the above specimen.” Dr. Gibbs states that W. H. Collins 
of Detroit wrote him that he ‘‘had several specimens, one taken in 1880.” 
I have not been able personally to verify these records, and since the two 
swans are readily confused they must be accepted with some caution. 
Major Boies states that it is “More rare than the Whistling Swan, but 
occasional in spring and fall on St. Mary’s river.’ There is an adult 
male now in the National Museum at Washington (No. 70317) which was 
taken at St. Clair Flats, Michigan, November 20, 1875 (Stejneger, Proc. 
U.S. Nat. Mus. V, 1882, 218). Mr. J. H. Fleming of Toronto, who kindly 
called my attention to the above record, also states that he has examined 
a supposed male Trumpeter, taken at Grassy Point, Lake St. Clair, Nov. 
30, 1887, and now in a local collection at Toronto, which proves to bea 
Whistling Swan. 
Kumlien and Hollister say “Surely a very rare bird in Wisconsin at the 
present day, and it is not certain that it could at any time during the past 
sixty years be called common” (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 31). Mr. Albert Lane, 
Madison, Minn., says “Not common in Minnesota; seven specimens noted. 
The heaviest ever examined weighed 16 pounds and was fat; one fine adult 
male weighed 15 pounds” (Auk, XIII, 78). Mr. Butler tells of one shot 
at Valparaiso, Indiana, February 22, 1894, which weighed 24} pounds 
and measured 50 inches in length and 83 inches between the extended 
wing tips. He says this specimen is now in the collection of Mr. Ruthven 
Deane, Chicago. (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 642). 
In general habits this species does not seem to differ much from the 
preceding, but it breeds farther south, although apparently some individuals 
nest as far north as any of the Whistling Swans. The nest and eggs are 
similar to those of the latter species, but the eggs are larger, averaging 4.46 
by 2.92 inches. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Hinder end of nostril nearer to the tip of the bill than to the corner of the eye, that is 
usually nearer the tip than the base of the bill, tail-feathers 24. Adult: Entirely white, 
as in the preceding species, but the legs, feet and bill entirely black, the latter and the 
lores without any trace of yellow. Young: Similar to that of the Whistling Swan, but 
without yellow on bill or lores. 
Length 5 to 5} feet; wing 21 to 27} inches; culmen 4.30 to 4.70; tarsus 4.54 to 4.94. 
