_ VT HE GLOBE, TORON TO. JftTURDAY , MAY J, 1926. 



SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION IN TREACHEROUS^/ AT ERS OF NIAGARA 





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«!i f |i a, L 



A Small Group Out of the Entire Flock ot Whistling Swans Which Visit Kingsville, on the Ontario Shore o£ Lake Erie, on Their Migrating Flight Each Spring 



;en almost wiped out. Fifty would 

 >ver all that have been seen in re- 

 •nt years. Until two years ago It 

 as supposed thatof the remaining 

 >ecies. the whistling swan, there 

 ight be as many as four hundred 

 ill existing In thejr wild state, 

 nail flocks of them would be seen 

 Jon occasion, during the spring 

 [grating season. 



Unfortunately for their survival, 

 seemed their custom to cross th 

 ain of the Great Lakes and thei 

 nnectlng rivers at the foot of Lak_ 

 -ie; and manyMimes it has been 

 lown that numbers of these rare 

 autiful creatures have perished i: 

 d about Niagara Falls. 

 The accepted explanation of thU 

 that the swans, wearied with their 

 is night from their winter feedin 

 oimds in the Southern Atlantic 

 >ast States, drop into certain areas 

 calm water in the Niagara River, 

 ually opposite Chippawa, about 

 -ee miles above the Falls. H>re 

 always open water, on aceount'of 

 e exceeding swiftness of the cur- 

 it at this point; end oftentimes, at 



£ ?h? y s , pring season o£ the 



»J? . onIy °P en water to be 

 "nd this far north. 



sh to Destruction. 

 ?-, r , e ' B «PPoaed safety,- they 

 1. K I A\ be . nd . tl l elr lon S. graceful 

 ik» back, tuck their beaks under 

 lr wlngH, gp to sleep, and before 

 y m t nwara of danger are car- 

 ' ? v " tho brink. Sometimes they 

 "",!" A lRr 'V»' 1 by th* roughn.« of 

 r«nidi .bov» m TaJI* »nd at- 

 •P( ito talcs wing again. Mr. Hill, 

 •i ha« watched this little tragedy 



M f* t, 7 , ^"- h bel,ev " th "t " they 



the police. As It turned out there 

 wasn't more than twentv minutes 

 ! between them, but that twenty min- 

 utes v.-as the postman's, the permit 

 being delivered to Mr. Hill's home 

 while the officers were on their way 

 to arrest him. Even as It was, he 

 had to appear before the authorities 

 and the fact that the department 

 had thoughtfully antedated then- 

 license by one month was all that 

 saved him from a very heavy fine 

 These six beautiful white i ,ans. 

 each with whig clipped, have since 

 become a familiar sight, feeding on 

 and about the pond that Is thirty 

 feet from Mr. Miner's breakfast- 

 room window. 



The Miracle Performed. 



Here is the amazing thing that 



is happened: 



This year only two wild swans 

 ive been seen In the Niagara dis- 

 trict, while adjacent to Klntfaville 

 i. flock that It is estimated must 

 lumber about two thousand follow- 

 d the arrival of the wild geese 

 W about two weeks, and f ,r Mi 

 days remained there, cradled on the 

 quiet bosom of Lake Erie, feeding, 

 unafraid, close In along : w s ..... 

 n opposite the town itself, and 

 ./arded its enraptured citizens and 

 visitors with the rare, lovely vision 



blue watere" ® " f " Sht above lts 

 It need scarcely be said thai peo- 

 ple thronged there to enjoy thfc 

 unusual »Ight. The Interested public 

 of th« surrounding countryside, blrd- 



' .,n n<1 i noted ornithologists 

 from still greater distances, found In 



2 htthnrto unknown cmpnrfjfUt? 



clouds. Behind lay the level, win- 

 ter-bleached fields, beginning to take 

 on, here and there, a suggeston of 

 .the coming green of new wheatlields, 

 Intersected here and there by a rib- 

 ton of purple-brown loam that the 

 iplow had newly naid. Befo 

 ■stretched the curving shoreline and 

 far horizon ot Lake Erie. Close in 

 to shore, and so unafraid that one 

 might go within fifty feet of them, 

 swam a flock of the swans them- 

 selves, white, graceful, gracious be- 

 yond description. A little farth 

 out. a great patch of waters was 

 black with feeding wild geese and 

 ducks. A mile or more to the right 

 floated another large flock of swans, 

 and again, almost where skv and 

 waters seemed to meet, a third flock, 

 scarcely discernible in the distance. 

 All were moving with gentle deliber- 

 ateness toward the west, as is the 

 wont of birds, to return again at 

 nightfall. Suddenly a small group of 

 the swans took wing, evenly spaced 

 in single file, and as they moved, a 

 shaft of clear sunlight touching them 

 gave them, one moment, wings as of 

 gleaming silver. 



No dangerous allure here! Noth- 

 ing but pastoral loveliness — soothing 

 Quietness — infinite peace, 



*One paused, a little awed, involun- 

 tarily reverent before this vision of 

 peace, and daybreak, and wide white 

 wings such as in our dreams we ac- 

 cord to angels. And as we paused 

 something whispered into the heart's 

 listening ear a line of the Psalmist's 

 matchless sons of gratitude: 

 .!&•> "" geth me beside tag still waters." 



