136 Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 
spot on the bill. It measured in the wing 23 inches, 2| along the 
ridge of the bill, and had 22 tail-feathers. It was very slightly 
tinged with rust-colour. 
104. Cygnus buccinator. 
I preserved the skin of a Trumpeter Swan, and also its wind¬ 
pipe, in natural form, which I shot at Fort Carlton, on the Sas- 
katchawan, on the 30th of March ( f Ibis/ vol. iv. p. 9). It was in 
the afternoon, and I had hardly made my way a quarter of a mile 
from the Fort when the bugle-like note of a Swan struck on my 
ear, and, looking up, I beheld a huge fellow coming along with 
a steady flight against a head wind. It was but the work of a 
few seconds to whip the cover off my gun, draw the bead on 
him, or rather ahead of him, and pull the right trigger, when 
a cartridge, which I had made myself, of ‘ BB ’ shot went spin¬ 
ning towards him, but, at the distance he seemed to be, I thought 
it unlikely to do him any harm. What was my delight when, 
after a sort of half-pause, one wing drooped, and then he fell from 
his great height, with a crash, into an aspen-coppice. I ran in 
and found him on his back, the only sign of life being a slight 
movement of the head, which, before I had completed reloading, 
had ceased. I subsequently paced the distance, and found it to 
be fifty-two yards : one or two grains, however, had entered his 
heart. Tying the legs of my prize together, I pushed the stock of 
my fowling-piece between them and trudged off with him at my 
back, his head dangling down and touching the calves of my legs; 
and as I entered the Fort I was greeted by the Indian yells of a 
pack of young urchins; for it was the “ first Swan” of the season. 
I may say that I was also fortunate enough to kill the first Goose 
and first Duck that spring, which established me at once as a 
bird-hunter of rank amongst the Indians and half-breeds of the 
neighbourhood. This specimen of Cygnus buccinator was con¬ 
siderably tinged with rust-colour; it measured 60^ in. in length, 
26i in. in the wing; and in extent 8 ft. 3 in.; bill along the 
ridge 4|, ditto to slit of mouth 4J in.; the second and third 
quill-feathers were nearly equal and the longest, the first being 
longer than the fourth. The eye was brown, bill black, legs, feet, 
and claws dull lead-black. It was a male, and weighed 23 lbs. 
