ANATID2E — THE SWANS — OLOR. 
425 
Mr. Yarrell states that a pair of these Swans bred on one of the islands at the 
Gardens of the Zoological Society, in the summer of 1839. As the Cygnets, when 
only a few days old, were sunning themselves on the margin of an island close to 
deep water, a Carrion Crow made a descent and struck at one of them. The male 
bird came to the rescue in an instant, and seizing the Crow with his beak, pulled it 
into the water, and in spite of its resistance held it there until it was drowned. 
In the eastern parts of Europe this species ranges from the lakes of Siberia in 
summer to the Caspian Sea in winter. It is said to fly, in the manner of the Wild 
Goose, in wedge-shaped Hocks, uttering, as it moves, a line melodious clang ; and this 
is all which can be put forward on its behalf to support its claim to having a musical 
voice. Its weight varies, in different individuals of this species, from thirteen to 
twenty-one pounds. 
The Wild Swan builds on the ground in secluded and marshy places, the nest being 
large, and composed of rushes and coarse herbage. The egg is described by Yarrell as 
being of a uniform pale brownish white, and measuring four inches and one line in 
length by two inches and eight lines in breadth. The incubation of this Swan lasts 
forty-two days. Its food consists of grasses, weeds, roots, and the seeds of plants. 
According to Wheelwright this bird is only seen during the periods of migration 
in the southern and midland districts of Scandinavia. It breeds up in Lapland, gen- 
erally in the retired Fell lakes. The eggs are seven in number, in color a brown 
yellow, rather shorter and thicker than those of the common tame Swan. Many birds 
of this species remain in the Sound, off the southern coast of Sweden, during mild 
Avinters ; but none are seen at this season off the north coast of Finland. An egg in 
my cabinet, taken by Proctor in Iceland in 1841, is of a dark ivory color, and measures 
4.30 by 2.90 inches. 
Olor columbianus. 
THE WHISTLING SWAN. 
? Oygnus ferus, Barth. Trav. 1791, 294 (may be 0. buccinator). 
Cygnus musicus, Bonap. Synop. 1828, 379 (nec Bechst. 1809). 
Oygnus Bcwiclci, Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 465 (nec Yarr.). — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 372. 
Cygnus ferus, Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 366 (nec Leach, 1816). 
Oygnus americanus, Sharpless, Doughty’s Cab. N. H. I. 1830, 185, pi. 16. — Aud. Orn. Biog. Y. 
1839, 133; pi. 411 ; Synop. 1839, 274 ; B. Am. YI. 1843, 226, pi. 384. — Bairp, B. N. Am. 
1858, 758 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 561a. — Coues, Key, 1872, 281 ; Check List, 1873, no. 
477 ; B. N. W. 1874, 545. 
Olor americanus. Gray, Cat. Brit. Mus. 1844, 131. — Bonap. Compt. Rend. XL1II. 1856. — Rmow. 
Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 588. 
Anas columbianus, Ord, Guthrie’s Geog. 2d Am. ed. 1815, 319. 
Oygnus columbianus, Coues, Bull. U. S. Geol. & Geogr. Surv. Terr. 2d series, no. 6, 1876, 444 ; Check 
List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 689. 
Olor columbianus, Stejn. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. 5, 1882, 210. 
Hab. The Avhole of North America, breeding far north ; accidental in Scotland. 
Sp. Char. Tail usually of twenty feathers; bill not longer than the head. Adult: Entire 
plumage pure white, the head, sometimes the neck, or even entire under parts, tinged with rusty. 
Bill, tarsi, and feet deep black, the bare lora.l skin usually marked by an oblong spot of orange 
or yelloAV (dull pale reddish, yelloAvish, or whitish in the skin); iris brown. Young: Light 
plumbeous, paler beneath, the fore part and top of the head tinged with reddish broAvn. Bill 
reddish flesh-color, dusky at the tip ; feet dull yelloAvish flesh-color, or grayish. 
Total length, about 53.00-55.50 inches ; extent about 7.00 feet ; Aving, 21.50-22.00 inches ; 
culmen, 3.82-4.20 ; tarsus, 4.06-4.32 ; middle toe, 5.40-5.90. 
vol. i. — 54 
