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SWIMMERS. 
WHISTLING SWAN. 
Olor columbianus. 
Char. Plumage white; bill black, with a yellow spot between the 
eyes and nostrils ; legs black. Length about 55 inches. 
Nest. On the margin of a lake or on an ocean island, sometimes in a 
marsh on a river bank, — a large structure of coarse herbage lined with 
fine grass or moss. 
Eggs. 2-7; dull white, sometimes washed with a greenish or huffish 
tint; the surface is rough; average size about 4.25 X 2.70. 
The Whistling Swan retires into the Arctic regions to pass 
in more security the period of reproduction during the short 
but brilliant summers which there prevail. In autumn it 
migrates over both continents, and in winter is sometimes 
numerous in the Bay of Chesapeake. Flocks are seen and 
heard to pass also through various parts of the interior of 
America, and they are nowhere more abundant at that season 
than in Missouri, .Arkansas, and Louisiana, to which countries, 
by the great valley of the Mississippi, they are seen to repair 
in lofty and numerous flights to the very close of winter, pro- 
tracting their stay sometimes until driven to move by the 
severest frosts. In the winter of i8io I saw two of these 
graceful birds in a state of domestication near St. Louis (Mis- 
souri), which were obtained with several others at the same 
time, in consequence of the extreme cold. The thermometer 
falling to 15° below zero, they were unable to bear the cutting 
severity of the weather, and fell disabled, accompanied by 
several Wild Ducks, into an adjoining field, where a few sur- 
vived and became tame. 
Whistling Swans arrive in Hudson Bay about the end of May 
in small flocks, accompanied by Geese, and propagate in great 
numbers along the shores, islands, and inland lakes. These 
birds, distinguished by their note and inferior size frem the 
following species, are called Hoopers, and mostly frequent the 
sea-coast. The Cygnets are esteemed a delicate dish, and 
the full-grown young are also excellent food. The aborigines 
