AN AT ID J3 — THE SWANS — OLOR. 
429 
several hours. In the spring these birds again assemble, as early as March, and 
after many preparations by incessant washings and dressings, meanwhile disturbing 
the neighborhood with their noise, they depart for the north with a general clamor 
of unmusical screams. In the Chesapeake they collect in flocks of from one to five 
hundred on the flats near the western shores, from the mouth of the Susquehanna 
almost to the Rip Raps. When alarmed they become instantly silent, and they depend 
much more on swimming than on flying for effecting an escape. When feeding, or 
dressing their plumage, this Swan is usually very noisy, and at night these clamors 
may be heard to the distance of several miles. Their notes are varied, some resem- 
bling the lower ones made by the common tin horn, others running through the vari- 
ous modulations of the notes of the clarinet. These differences are presumed to be 
dependent upon age. 
In shooting at a flying Swan, Dr. Sharpless states that the bill should be aimed at, 
or, if going with a breeze, a foot before the bill. A Swan can rarely be killed unless 
struck in the neck, and large masses of feathers may be shot away without impeding 
the bird’s progress for a moment. When wounded in the wing only, these Swans 
will readily beat off a dog, or even a man. They are sometimes brought within shoot- 
ing range by sailing down upon them while feeding, as they rise to disadvantage 
against the wind. In winter, by means of white dresses and boats covered with ice, 
sportsmen paddle or float by night into the centre of a flock, and numbers may thus 
be killed by blows of a pole. 
This species admits of being tamed and partially domesticated. A pair belong- 
ing to the cemetery at Milford, Mass., were exhibited at the poultry show in Boston 
in 1874. They were perfectly tame, permitted themselves to be touched without 
resistance, and fed readily from the hands of entire strangers. 
Mr. MacFarlane mentions this Swan as breeding in considerable numbers in the 
vicinity of Fort Anderson. The eggs were found from the middle of June to the 
last of July. The nests were on the ground, and generally lined with hay, or occa- 
sionally with down and feathers. The maximum number of eggs was four. Other 
nests were seen on islands in Franklin Bay and in other portions of the Arctic Sea. 
The eggs taken in July usually contained embryos. 
According to Mr. Dali, this Swan is common all along the Yukon, arriving with 
the Geese about May 1, but in a contrary direction, coming down instead of going up 
the river, and breeding in the great marshes near the mouth of that river. The eggs 
are usually on a tussock quite surrounded with water, and so near it that the female 
sometimes sits with her feet in the water. The Indian name of the species is 
“ Tohwah.” At Nulato the eggs are laid about May 21, but later at the mouth of the 
Yukon. These birds moult in July, and cannot fly; at that time the Indians spear 
them with bone tridents. They are very shy. Mr. Bannister found them common at 
St. Michael’s. They flew in small flocks of ten or twelve, in a single line, advancing 
obliquely. 
Captain Ben dire, in a letter written Nov. 14, 1874, mentions the capture of birds 
of this species on Lake Harney, in Eastern Oregon, where it was very numerous. 
The stomach of one contained about twenty small shells, half an inch in length, 
and identical in kind with shells common on the beach near Los Angeles, Cal., a 
quantity of gravel, and a few black seeds. He found the meat excellent — much 
superior to that of the Wild Goose. On the 18th of April, 1875, he wrote, mentioning 
the arrival of a large flock, all of this species, there not being a buccinator among 
them. He afterward noticed them as being very common on the borders of Lake 
Malheur during tire migrations, a few remaining until April 24. In the Upper 
