288 
N ATATO RES. 
the flock reposes, one or more ganders stand on the 
watch. At the sight of cattle, horses, or animals of 
the deer kind, they are seldom alarmed, but a bear 
or a cougar is instantly announced ; and if on such 
occasions the flock is on the ground near water, the 
birds immediately betake themselves in silence to the 
latter, swim to the middle of the pond or river, and 
there remain until danger is over. So acute is their 
sense of hearing, that they are able to distinguish 
the different sounds or footsteps of their foes with 
astonishing accuracy. Thus the breaking of a dry 
stick by a deer is at once distinguished from the same 
accident occasioned by a man. If a dozen of large 
turtles drop into the water, making a great noise in 
their fall, or if the same effect is produced by an 
alligator, the Wild Goose pays no regard to it • but 
however faint and distant may be the sound of an 
Indian’s paddle, that may by accident have struck 
the side of his canoe, it is at once marked, every in- 
dividual raises its head and looks intently toward 
the place from which the noise has proceeded, and 
in silence all watch the movements of their enemy/’ 
Of the Swan family we have two species, the 
American Swan and the Trumpeter Swan. The lat- 
ter appears to be exclusively a western species, being 
most abundant in the vicinity of the Mississippi, Mis- 
souri, and other western rivers, during Winter, and 
breeding from California northward to. the fur coun- 
tries. The American Swan is found in Winter along 
the Atlantic coasts, sometimes in considerable num- 
bers, particularly in Chesapeake Bay, but appears to 
