ANATID2E — THE SWANS — OLOR. 
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lowish brown, tinged with olive ; the claws brownish black, the webs blackish brown. The upper 
part of the head and the cheeks are light reddish brown, each feather having toward its extremity 
a small oblong whitish spot, narrowly margined with dusky ; the throat nearly white, as well as 
the edge of the lower eyelid. The general color of the other parts is grayish white, slightly 
tinged with yellow ; the upper part of the neck marked with spots similar to those on the head” 
(Audubon). 
Total length, about 58.50 to 68.00 inches ; extent, about 8.00 to nearly 10.00 feet ; wing, 21.00- 
27.25 inches ; culmen (from frontal feathers) 4.34-4.70 ; tarsus, 4.54-4.92 ; middle toe, 6.00-6.50. 
The arrangement of the trachea in this species is very different from that in 0. columbicmus, in 
having, besides the horizontal bend, a vertical flexure, occupying a prominent protuberance on the 
anterior portion of the dorsal aspect of the sternum. 
The Trumpeter Swan is almost exclusively found in the interior during the breed- 
ing-season, is common in all the valley of the Mississippi, and is found from Southern 
California in the winter to the highest Arctic regions in the summer. It breeds in 
the interior as far north at least as the 70th parallel, and as far south as latitude 
42°. A few of this species breed in Central and Northern Iowa, and thence north- 
ward. 
On the Pacific coast, according to Dr. Cooper, this is the prevailing species, as it also 
is throughout the interior of the continent, being found in Minnesota and Nebraska 
in June, July, and August, where some undoubtedly breed. It is present in Califor- 
nia in the middle of the winter only in small numbers, frequenting, as usual, the 
inland fresh-waters. Its habits are said to be much the same as those of the 
Whooper, but its cry is very different, resembling the notes of a French horn, and being- 
very sonorous. These peculiar tones are dependent on the form of the windpipe, 
which is very long, and bent in various S-shaped turns through hollows of the breast- 
bone — the differences corresponding to the different cries, as well as other distinc- 
tions of the species. A flock of what Dr. Cooper supposed to be this species wintered 
at Fort Mojave, in latitude 35°, Colorado Valley; but Dr. Cooper saw none near the 
southern coast of California. 
According to Sir John Richardson, the Trumpeter Swan arrives in the spring in 
the Arctic Regions several days in advance of the Goose, and remains later in the 
season. He found it breeding in the interior from the 60th to the 68tli parallel. It 
frequents only the fresh water, swims with great rapidity and elegance, aiding itself 
by raising its wings when going before the wind. If attacked when swimming, it can 
strike severely with its wings. This Swan flies very high, and usually alights in the 
water. It is the Common Swan of the interior of the Fur Countries, and was found 
breeding as far south as latitude 61° N. With the exception of the Eagles, it is the 
earliest of all the migratory birds. 
Hearne states that at his time this species visited Hudson’s Bay in large numbers 
in the summer months, and bred on the islands in the fresh-water ponds and lakes. 
The eggs he speaks of as so large that one of them would be a sufficient meal for a 
moderate man, without bread or any other additions. In the interior parts of the 
country this species precedes every other kind of waterfowl, and in some years arrives 
as early as the month of March, and long before the ice of the rivers is broken up. 
At those times these birds always frequent the open waters of falls and rapids, where 
they are shot by the Indians in considerable numbers. This Swan is said frequently 
to weigh as much as thirty pounds. Its flesh is regarded as excellent eating, and 
when roasted equals in flavor the beef of a young heifer. The Cygnets are also very 
delicate. Hearne states that notwithstanding its size this Swan is so swift on the 
wing that it is, in his opinion, more difficult to shoot than any other bird. Indeed, 
