distinguished from the
hooper, both by its louder note and larger body. Its habits, however,
are very similar, except that it seems to be more gregarious,--small
flocks of six or eight often appearing together, while the hooper is
seen only in pairs, and sometimes solitary. Another distinction is,
that the trumpeter arrives much earlier in its migrations to the North,
being the earliest bird that appears except the eagles. It breeds as
far South as latitude 61 degrees, but most generally within the Arctic
circle. Its nest is constructed similarly to those of the hooper, but
its eggs are much larger, one of them being a meal for a moderate eater,
without bread or any other addition. The trumpeter frequently arrives
in the North before the lakes or rivers are thawed. It is then obliged
to find sustenance at the rapids and waterfalls, where the Indians can
approach under cover, and many are shot at such times by these people.
At all other times, as you, Francois, have observed, it is a bird most
difficult of approach; and the Indian hunters only attempt it when they
have a long-range gun loaded with ball.

"The third species of American swans is that known as Bewick's swan
(Cygnus _Bewickii_), called after the naturalist of that name. It is
the smallest of the three, rarely measuring over fifty-two inches in
length, and weighing only fourteen pounds, while the hooper is over
twenty pounds in weight, and the trumpeter is often obtained of the
enormous weight of thirty!

"Bewick's swan is also said to be identical with one of Brehm's singing
swans. Its colour is almost similar to that of the hooper, and the two
are often mistaken for each other. The size and the tail-feathers of
all three of the American swans form a sufficiently specific
distinction. In the trumpeter these are twenty-four in number, in the
hooper twenty, while the small species has only eighteen.

"Of the three, the last-mentioned is the latest on its annual journey,
but it breeds farther North than either of the others. Its nest is
found upon the islands of the Arctic Sea; it is usually built of
peat-moss, and is of gigantic dimensions, being six feet long by five in
width, and nearly two feet high. In the top of this pile is the nest
itself, forming a large round cavity nearly two feet in diameter. The
eggs are of a brownish white, with clouds of darker tint.

"I have remarked," continued Lucien, "a singularity in the geographical
distrib