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THE WHISTLING SWAN. 
sometimes so abundant that Dr. Bennett recollects 44 a drove of Black Swans being driven up 
Gfeorge Street (Sydney) like a flock of geese.” 
Teumpeteb Swan {Olor buccinator). This beautiful bird inhabits from the Mississippi 
River Valley northward, to the Pacific, Hudson’s Bay, Canada, and casually on the Atlantic 
coast. It breeds from Iowa and Dakota northward ; in winter, south, to the Gfulf. The vocal 
apparatus is singularly powerful. The same elongation of the windpipe is seen as that in the 
great whooping crane. Dr. Coues says : “I have observed this Swan on but few occasions, in 
Dakota only, late in September and during the first half of October, when the birds were 
migrating southward, with great numbers of Canada and snow geese, and various wild ducks. 
Before leaving the Columbia River, early in November, the Swans had begun to arrive from 
the North ; and frequently, when at Fort Vancouver, their trumpeting drew our attention to 
the long, converging lines of these magnificent birds, so large and so snowy- white, as they came 
from their northern nesting-places, and screaming their delight at the appearance of the broad 
expanse of water, perhaps their winter home, descended into the Columbia.” 
Audubon says : 4 ‘ The Trumpeter Swans make their appearance on the lower portions of 
the waters of the Ohio about the end of October. ... No sooner did the gloom of night 
become discernible through the gray twilight, than the loud, sounding notes of hundreds of 
Trumpeters would burst on the ear ; and as I gazed on the ice-bound river, flocks after flocks 
would be seen coming from afar and in various directions, and alighting about the middle of 
the stream opposite our encampment. Not a single individual did I ever observe to act as 
sentinel, and I have since doubted whether their acute sense of hearing is not sufficient to 
enable them to detect the approach of their enemies. If the morning proved fair, the flocks 
would rise on their feet, trim their plumage, and, as they started with wings extended, as if 
racing in rivalry, the pattering of their feet would come on the ear like the sound of great 
muffled drums, accompanied by the loud and clear sounds of their voices. On running fifty 
yards or so to windward, they would all be on wing. If the weather proved thick, drizzly, or 
cold, they would remain on the ice, walking, or standing, or lying. 
4 4 To form a perfect conception of the beauty and elegance of these Swans, you must 
observe them when they are not aware of your proximity, and as they glide over the waters of 
some secluded inland pond. On such occasions the neck, which at other times is held stiffly 
upright, moves in graceful curves, now bent forward, now inclined backward over the body. 
Now, with an extended, scooping movement, the head becomes immersed for a moment, and 
with a sudden effort a flood of water is thrown over the back and wings, when it is seen rolling 
off in sparkling globules, like large pearls. The bird then shakes its wings, and glides forward 
with surprising agility and grace. When swimming unmolested, the Swan shows the body 
buoyed up, but when apprehensive of danger, it sinks considerably lower. 
The Whistling Swan ( Olor americanus). Inhabits the continent of North America, 
breeding only in the far north, wintering in the United States. It seems to be unknown in 
the Gfulf States, but is not uncommon in Chesapeake Bay in November, when many are 
obtained for the market. The flesh is not much esteemed. The species referred to as Hooper, 
or Whistling Swan, is distinct from this. 
Audubon refers to the account of Dr. Sharpless, who says : 44 About the first of September, 
these Swans leave the Polar seas. . . . When making either their semi-annual migrations, 
or on shorter excursions, an occasional scream issues from the leader, which is almost always 
replied to from some posterior swan in the line, with an ‘all’s well’ vociferation. When the 
leader of the party becomes fatigued with his extra duty of cutting the air, he falls in 
the rear, and his neighbor takes his place. When mounted, as they sometimes are, several 
thousand feet above the earth, with their diminished and delicate outline hardly perceptible 
against the clear blue of heaven, this harsh sound, softened and modulated by distance, and 
issuing from the immense void above, assumes a supernatural character of tone and expression 
that excites, the first time heard, a singularly peculiar feeling. 
4 4 In flying, these birds make a strange appearance ; their long necks protrude, and present 
