The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-12


the swan" which is audible several miles,
varies from the lower notes of tin horn,
| through the various modulations of the cornet.
On the bay they are taken by sailing down on
them as they rise hard against the wind and
shooting them through the long neck The
| downy body is shot-proof Hunters also paddle
| into the flock wearing white dresses, and with
boats covered with ice, then knock
ing them down with poles These
birds moult in July and then can
not fly; at that time the Indians about ST. Mi
chaels, Alaska, spear them with bone trident.
| They lay four eggs in July. four and one-half by
two and one-half inches in size. The eggs of the
| trumpeter are little larger
| Both species, as is the case with the chopper"
or ''whistling swan of Europe, also, have been
tanned and domesticated The English swan has
| been taken in Greenland, and both our species
| have occasionally wandered across the Atlantic
to Scotland. They fly rapidly-1OO miles an
| hour before the wind, and, as with geese and
ducks in an angle an elongated wedge, the old
| swans taking the lead with loud and sonorous
screams.
| Both the trumpeter and the whistler have been
domesticatei in the cemetery at Cincinnati-the
former species from young cygnets taken from
Oakland Valley, Iowa, in the spring of 1881.
| Three of these were purchased for Mount Au-
burn Cemetery. They showed no fear, eating
from the hands of strangers. A pair Of trum-
peters were sent from the Cincinnati cemetery to
the London Geological Gardens Audubon kept
one for two years; it knew its name and took
| food from his hand, and drove turkeys dogs and
I .nd %1,o
premises.
The trumpeter winters in the South-from
Illinois to Mexico, and is frequently exposed for
sale in the markets of New Orleans. They go
north in early SPRING to breed.
Both species are strictly homogeneous the
trumpeter bringing forth five to seven young in
late June or early July 1t is quite likely they
still breed in northern Indiana Trumpeters
are shot on the marshes within a few miles of
Chicago, and are sold on the markets for from
one to two dollars. They are shot by rifle
| through the head or neck, when sitting on the
water, as shot has no more effect on their thick
! down than on feather bed.
Swans eat about the same quality of food as
ducks and geese their shorter necked allies; they
| feed in the same way, their bills and necks in
the water and their feet in the air to keep
| their balance They eat roots, leaves, Seeds
| insects, land snais, small fish, etc.
| The specimen brought to this city last week
was well filled with snas, and the solid bulbs of
a water plant about an inch long, which were as
hard as wood, except the just sprouting centers.
The breast steaks, each weighing about pound
and half were very tender, and, when
broiled, were excellent eating, as the writer can
| testify.
| 1t is hardly necessary to add anything to the
well-known history of this bird. When clean,
they are grayish white, tinged with yellow, ex-
| cert reddish brown suffusion of the head and
cheeks. Our species have black feet and bills
with dark brown eyes. There are eight or ten
kinds inhabiting the various continents, among
Australia, and the black necked swan
of South America, mainly in Chill
Nor is it necessary to add that their fancied
musical ability, either in health or at the close
of lfe is not confirmed by listening to their
vocal efforts, and is contradicted by such com
mon names as Hooper" for the European, and
whistler and ''Trumpeter" FOR the American
species; nor are their musical abilities confirmed
by examination of their vocal apparatus. The
wind pipe is three feet long, and is coiled up in
horizontal coil in cavity in the keel of the
breastbone, doubling on itself and then emerg
ing to return to the lungs There are no saryn-
geal muscles or other apparatus for modulating
the voice, as with the singing birds. The sexes
are coored similarly and there are no seasonal
or sexual plumages. as with many birds
The extreme length and hexibity of the neck
their movements and attitudes in the water, are
proverbially elegant and graceful. Her neck
was ike the swans, says Burns or Anna
Laurie, while graceful as q swan" and soft as
swans down are common figures.
The swan was the especial favorite of the
genial Charles Waterton, the English naturalist,
who tanned them and studied their habits. At
his island home, Walton Hall, he had a lake of
twenty five acres, where focks of over fifty
wild swan often made long sojourns The
whole estate he surrounded with an eight-foot
wall, costing $4,000, simply to keep natural
wild for birds and beasts. Thousands of wild
wa WI fr0p
windows on the lake. There was
no place like it in England for
its natural and artificial advantages, and this
! natural wilderness was welcome to the visits of
all who 'loyed the flower and left it on its stalk
or tanned the birds without gun. His essays
on natural history take rank with whites
Natural History of Selbourne,' and there is
| nothing on tropical natural history which can
| offset Wa.erton's "Wanderings in South
| America" His prose translation of Ovid's
| Transformation of Cycnus into Swan from
| the Metamorphoses, and his comments OH it. as
coupled with his own experience are inimitable.
One Of his swans left the horse pond
! through long afternoon Waterton watched
and listened until it died, but there was no song
| but silence
| Phaeton, the well known incendiary, had
] burned every corn rick in Earths farm. yard
and, as punishment. Jupiter felled him dead
| into the river Pc. His sisters. ont OF sorrow,
| took root in the ground and became weeping
| willows. while his near relative Cycnus became
voluntary wanderer the river which held
| Phaetons moist remains. Awakening from his
sleep s'down amid the rushes." Cycnus found,
| one morning, his voice had become a squeak his
| neck elongated, webs betwixt his fingers,
and feathers sprouting on his back.
his mouth beak, and so became a swan,
and to this day no frequents swamps
and lakes, as being the most secure against fire.
which had done such mischief to his family
But there is nothing to justify Ovids remark
usually good ornithologist as he was that the
swan MARBLES its own funeral song upon he
near approach of death .Carfnina Jam moriens
CAN'T exequialia cygnus.n
Like black swan" was once well-known
proverb akin to the horse marines of the
present, but since the black swan was dis
covered in Australia and domesticated In Eng