The wild fowl of the United States and British possessions - or, The swan, geese, ducks, and mergansers of North America (1898) (14746384791)

Identifier: wildfowlofunited00elli (find matches)

Title: The wild fowl of the United States and British possessions : or, The swan, geese, ducks, and mergansers of North America

Year: 1898 (1890s)

Authors: Elliot, Daniel Giraud, 1835-1915

Subjects: Game and game-birds Anatidae

Publisher: New York : F.P. Harper

Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library

Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

Text Appearing Before Image:

coast, and in theinterior probably on both sides of the mountains, butis not known to breed in Alaska. A single speci-men w^as procured by Dall at Fort Yukon, which is theonly record given of its appearance in the Territory. Inthe United States, the Trumpeter, in the interior, wintersfrom Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, and breeds fromIowa and Minnesota northward. The nest of this speciesis a large structure composed of gvass, leaves, down, andfeathers, and is placed usually on elevated ground. Theeggs,which are a uniform chalky white with a granulatedsurface, are quite large, from four to four and a halfinches long, and two and a half to three in breadth.From five to seven is the complement, and the young arehatched in July, and are led by the parents to the fresh-water ponds and lakes in the vicinity. In August theadults moult and are then for a time unable to fly, andabout the beginning of September the birds commenceto journey southward, and are among the first of the i. o km\^\j

Text Appearing After Image:

IR CM PETER SWA.y. 29 great migratory host to enter our limits, and also to leavethem again in the spring. The Trumpeter swims rapidly and easily, and whengoing before the w4nd raises its wings and uses them assails to help itself along. It flies very high and inlengthened lines, like the Whistling Swan, and its speedin the air is about the same, possibly one hundred milesan hour under favorable conditions. Its vo^e is verydifferent from that of the other species, being loud andsonorous, resembling the notes of a French horn, thetone being caused by the various convolutions of thewindpipe. I do not think that this species, in the localities it fre-quents, is as numerous as is the Whistling Swan in itshabitats. It is the prevailing species in California, whereit visits the inland fresh waters, and is apparently mostabundant on the rivers emptying into the lower Miss-issippi, along the Gulf of Mexico, and in Western Texas,where it is fairly common in w^inter. It does not dififerin its h

cygnus buccinator illustrations the wild fowl of the united states and british possessions book illustrations ornithology birds zoological illustration natural history american museum of natural history alaska high resolution images from internet archive california

1898

American Museum of Natural History Library

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