CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. I25 



abundant during the summer in some portions of the mainland 

 interior. The young have been taken on Vancouver Island. 

 Brooks says that a swan, (apparently this species) winters in suit- 

 able localities in the Okanagan district, B.C. 



Breeding Notes. — This species builds on the ground and the 

 nest usually contains five eggs ; several were also found on the 

 coast and islands of Liverpool and Franklin bays in the Arctic 

 Ocean. {Macfarlaite.) The birds arrive on the coast singly or in 

 small parties, and directly after scatter to their summer haunts. 

 At Nulato, Dall found them laying their eggs by May 21st, but 

 on the sea-coast, May 30th is the earliest date I have of their eggs 

 being taken. Dall states that they lay two eggs, but this must 

 refer to a single nest, for the ordinary number is from three to 

 six. The nest is usually upon a small island in some secluded 

 lakelet, or on a rounded bank close to the border of a pond. 

 The eggs are deposited in a depression made in a heap of rubbish 

 gathered by the birds from the immediate vicinity of the nest, 

 and is composed of grass, moss, and dead leaves, forming a 

 bulky affair in many cases. On June 14th, 1880, a swan was seen 

 flying from the side of a small pond on the marsh near St. Michael, 

 and a close search finally revealed the nest. The eggs were com- 

 pletely hidden in loose moss, which covered the ground about 

 the spot, and in which the bird had made a depression by pluck- 

 ing the moss and arranging it for that purpose. The site was so 

 artfully chosen and prepared that I passed the spot in my search, 

 and one of my native hunters coming close behind, called me 

 back, and thrusting his stick into the moss exposed the eggs. 

 {Nelson.) 



MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 



One fine specimen taken on Lake Winnipeg by Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, 

 An egg, which is supposed to be that of this species, from 

 Mackenzie River. 



181. Trumpeter Swan. 



Olor buccinator (Rich.) Wagler. 1832. 



Stragglers are occasionally seen on the north side of Lake Erie 

 and doubtless on Lake Ontario, but by many observers this species 

 is referred to the more common Whistling Swan. 



Occasionally seen passing over Manitoba, flying high in the 

 spring. More plentiful in the autumn. Only a few specimens 

 noted by Spreadborough at Indian Head, Assa., in the middle of 



