In our journey we had kept far enough to the north to avoid the
difficult route of the Ozark Hills; and we at length encamped upon the
Marais de Cygnes, a branch of the Osage River. Beyond this we expected
to fall in with the buffalo, and of course we were full of pleasant
anticipation. Near the point where we had pitched our camp, the banks
of the river were marshy, with here and there small lakes of stagnant
water. In these a large number of swans, with wild geese and other
aquatic birds, were swimming and feeding.
Of course our guns were put in requisition, and we succeeded in killing
a brace of swans, with a grey goose (Anser _Canadensis_), and a pair of
ducks. The swans were very large ones--of the Trumpeter species--and
one of them was cooked for supper. It was in excellent condition, and
furnished a meal for the whole of our party! The other swan, with the
goose and ducks, were stowed away for another occasion.
While "discussing" the flesh of this great and noble bird, we also
discussed many of the points in its natural history.
"White as a swan" is a simile old as language itself. It would, no
doubt, puzzle an Australian, used to look upon those beautiful and
stately birds as being of a very different complexion. The simile holds
good, however, with the North-American species, all three of which--for
there are three of them--are almost snow-white.
We need not describe the form or general appearance of the swan. These
are familiar to every one. The long, upright, and gracefully-curving
neck; the finely-moulded breast, the upward-tending tail-tip, the light
"dip," and easy progression through the water, are points that everybody
has observed, admired, and remembered. These are common to all birds of
the genus _Cygnus_, and are therefore not peculiar to the swans of
America.
Many people fancy there are but two kinds of swans--the white and black.
It is not long since the black ones have been introduced to general
notoriety, as well as to general admiration. But there are many
distinct species besides--species differing from each other in size,
voice, and other peculiarities. In Europe alone, there are four native
swans, specifically distinct.
It was long believed that the common American swan (_Cygnus Americanus_)
was identical with the common European species, so well-known in
England. It is now ascertained, however, not only that these two are
specifically distinct, but that in North America there exist two other
species, differing from the _Cygnus Americanus_, and from each other.
These are the Trumpeter (_Cygnus buccinnator_) and the small swan of
Bewick (_Cygnus Bewickii_), also an inhabitant of European countries.
The common American species is of a pure white, with black hill, logs,
and feet. A slight tinge of brownish red is found on some individuals
on the crown of the head, and a small patch of orange-yellow extends
from the angles of the mouth to the eye. On the base of the bill is a
fleshy tubercle or knob, and the upper mandible is curved at the tip.
The young of this species are of a bluish-grey colour, with more of the
brown-red tinge upon the head. The naked yellow patch, extending from
the angles of the mouth to the eye, in the young birds, is covered with
feathers, and their bills are flesh-coloured. This description answers
in every respect for the swan of Bewick; but the latter species is only
three-fourths the size of the former; and, besides, it has only eighteen
tail feathers, while the American swan has twenty. Their note is also
entirely unlike.
The "Trumpeter" is different from either. He is the largest, being
frequently met with of nearly six feet in length, while the common swan
rarely exceeds five. The bill of the Trumpeter is not tuberculated; and
the yellow patch under the eye is wanting. The bill, legs, and feet are
entirely black. All the rest is white, with the exception of the head,
which is usually tinged with chestnut or red-brown. When young, he is
of a greyish-white, with a yellow mixture, and the head of deeper
red-brown. His tail feathers are twenty-four in number; but there is a
material difference between him and his congeners in the arrangement of
the windpipe. In the Trumpeter this enters a protuberance that stands
out on the dorsal aspect of the sternum, which is wanting in both the
other kinds. It may be that this arrangement has something to do with
his peculiar note, which differs altogether from that of the others. It
is much fuller and louder, and at a distance bears a considerable
resemblance to the trumpet or French horn. Hence the trivial name by
which this species is known to the hunters.
All the American swans are migratory--that is, they pass from north to
south, every autumn, and back again from south to north in the beginning
of spring.
The period of their migration is different with the three species. The
Trumpeter is the earliest, preceding all other birds, with the exception
of the eagles. The _Cygnus Americanus_ comes next; and, lastly, the
small swans, that are among the very latest of migratory birds.
The Trumpeters seek the north at the breaking up of the ice. Sometimes
they arrive at a point in their journey where this has not taken place.
In such cases they fly back again until they reach some river or lake
from which the ice has disappeared, where they remain a few days, and
wait the opening of the waters farther north. When they are thus
retarded and sent back, it is always in consequence of some unusual and
unseasonable weather.
The swans go northward to breed. Why they do so is a mystery. Perhaps
they feel more secure in the inhospitable wastes that lie within the
Arctic circle. The Trumpeters breed as far south as latitude 61
degrees, but most of them retire within the frigid zone.
The small swans do not nest so far south, but pursue their course still
onward to the Polar Sea. Here they build immense nests by raising heaps
of peat moss, six feet in length by four in width, and two feet high.
In the top of these heaps is situated the nest, which consists of a
cavity a foot deep, and a foot and a half in diameter.
The Trumpeters and American swans build in marshes and the islands of
lakes. Where the muskrat (_Fiber zibethicus_) abounds, his dome-shaped
dwelling--at that season, of course, deserted--serves often as the
breeding-place boll? for the swans and wild geese. On the top of this
structure, isolated in the midst of great marshes, these birds are
secure from all their enemies--the eagle excepted.
The eggs of the Trumpeter are very large, one of them being enough to
make a good meal for a man. The eggs of the American species are
smaller and of a greenish appearance, while those of the Bewick swan are
still smaller and of a brownish-white colour, with a slight clouding of
darker hue.
Six or seven eggs is the usual "setting." The cygnets, when half or
full-grown, are esteemed good eating, and are much sought after by the
hunters and Indians of the fur countries.
When the cygnets are full-grown, and the frost makes its appearance upon
the lakes and rivers of the hyperborean regions, the swans begin to
shift southwards. They do not migrate directly, as in the spring, but
take more time on their journey, and remain longer in the countries
through which they pass. This no doubt arises from the fact that a
different motive or instinct now urges them. In the spring they are
under the impulse of philo-progenitiveness. Now they range from lake to
lake and stream to stream in search only of food. Again, as in the
spring, the Trumpeters lead the van--winging their way to the great
lakes, and afterwards along the Atlantic coast, and by the line of the
Mississippi, to the marshy shores of the Mexican Sea.
It may be remarked that this last-mentioned species--the Trumpeter--is
rare upon the Atlantic coast, where the common swan is seen in greatest
plenty. Again, the Trumpeter does not appear on the Pacific or by the
Colombia River, where the common swan is met with, but the latter is
there outnumbered by the small species (_Cygnus Bewickii_) in the ratio
of five to one. This last again is not known in the fur countries of
the interior, where the _Cygnus Americanus_ is found, but where the
Trumpeter exists in greatest numbers. Indeed the skins of the Trumpeter
are those which are mostly exported by the Hudson's Bay Company, and
which form an important article of their commerce.
The swan is eagerly hunted by the Indians who inhabit the fur countries.
Its skin brings a good price from the traders, and its quills are
valuable. Besides, the flesh is a consideration with these people,
whose life, it must be borne in mind, is one continuous struggle for
food; and who, for one-half the year, live upon the very verge of
starvation.
The swan, therefore, being a bird that weighs between twenty and thirty
pounds, ranks among large game, and is hunted with proportionate ardour.
Every art the Indian can devise is made use of to circumvent these
great birds, and snares, traps, and decoys of all kinds are employed in
the pursuit.
But the swans are among the shyest of God's creatures. They fly so
rapidly, unless when beating against the wind, that it requires a
practised shot to hit them on the wing. Even when moulting their
feathers, or when young, they can escape--fluttering over the surface of
the water faster than a canoe can be paddled.
The most usual method of hunting them is by snares. These are set in
the following manner:--
A lake or river is chosen, where it is known the swans are in the habit
of resting for some time on their migration southward--for this is the
principal season of swan-catching.
Some time before the birds make their appearance, a number of wicker
hedges are constructed, running perpendicularly out from the bank, and
at the distance of a few yards from each other. In the spaces between,
as well as in openings left in the fences themselves, snares are set.
These snares are made of the intestines of the deer, twisted into a
round shape, and looped. They are placed so that several snares may
embrace the opening, and the swans cannot pass through without being
caught.
The snare is fastened to a stake, driven into the mud with sufficient
firmness to hold the bird when caught and struggling. That the snare
may not be blown out of its proper place by the wind, or carried astray
by the current, it is attached to the wattles of the hedge by some
strands of grass. These, of course, are easily broken, and give way the
moment a bird presses against the loop.
The fences or wattle-hedges are always constructed projecting out from
the shore--for it is known that the swans must keep close in to the land
while feeding. Whenever a lake or river is sufficiently shallow to make
it possible to drive in stakes, the hedges are continued across it from
one side to the other.
Swans are also snared upon their nests. When a nest is found, the snare
is set so as to catch the bird upon her return to the eggs. These
birds, like many others, have the habit of entering the nest on one
side, and going out by the other, and it is upon the entrance side that
the snare is set.
The Indians have a belief that if the hands of the persons setting the
snare be not clean, the bird will not approach it, but rather desert her
eggs, even though she may have been hatching them for some time.
It is, indeed, true that this is a habit of many birds, and may be so of
the wild swan. Certain it is that the nest is always reconnoitred by
the returning bird with great caution, and any irregularity appearing
about it will render her extremely shy of approaching it.
Swans are shot, like other birds, by "approaching" them under cover. It
requires very large shot to kill them--the same that is used for deer,
and known throughout America as "buck-shot." In England this size of
shot is termed "swan shot."
It is difficult to get within range of the wild swan, he is by nature a
shy bird; and his long neck enables him to see over the sedge that
surrounds him. Where there happens to be no cover--and this is
generally the case where he haunts--it is impossible to approach him.
Sometimes the hunter floats down upon him with his canoe hidden by a
garniture of reeds and bushes. At other times he gets near enough in
the disguise of a deer or other quadruped--for the swan, like most wild
birds, is less afraid of the lower animals than of man.
During the spring migration, when the swan is moving northward, the
hunter, hidden under some rock, bank, or tree, frequently lures him from
his high flight by the imitation of his well-known "hoop." This does
not succeed so well in the autumn.
When the swans arrive prematurely on their spring journey, they resort
sometimes in considerable flocks to the springs and waterfalls, all
other places being then ice-bound. At this time the hunters concealing
themselves in the neighbourhood, obtain the desired proximity, and deal
destruction with their guns.
A-- related an account of a swan hunt by torch-light, which he had made
some years before.
"I was staying some days," said he, "at a remote, settlement upon one of
the streams that run into the Red river of the north, it was in the
autumn season, and the Trumpeter-swans had arrived in the neighbourhood
on their annual migration to the south. I had been out several times
after them with my gun, but was unable to get a shot at them in
consequence of their shyness. I had adopted every expedient I could
think of--calls, disguises, and decoys--but all to no purpose. I
resolved, at length, to try them by torch-light.
"It so happened that none of the hunters, at the settlement had ever
practised this method; but as most of them had succeeded, by some means
or other, in decoying and capturing several swans by other means, my
hunter-pride was touched, and I was most anxious to show that I could
kill swans as well as they. I had never seen Swans shot by torch-light,
but I had employed the plan for killing deer, as you already know, and I
was determined to make a trial of it upon the swans.
"I set secretly about it, resolved to steal a march upon my neighbours,
if possible. My servant alone was admitted into my confidence, and we
proceeded to make the necessary arrangements.
"These were precisely similar to those already described in my limit of
the long-tails, except that the canoe, instead of being `a dug-out,' was
a light craft of birch-bark, such as are in use among the Chippowas and
other Indians of the northern countries. The canoe was obtained from a
settler, and tilled with torch-wood and other necessary articles, but
these were clandestinely put on board.
"I was now ready, and a dark night was all that was wanted to enable me
to carry out my plan.
"Fortunately I soon obtained this to my heart's satisfaction. A night
arrived as dark as Erebus; and with my servant using the paddle, we
pushed out and shot swiftly down stream.
"As soon as we had cleared the `settlement,' we lit our pine-knots in
the frying-pan. The blaze refracted from the concave and blackened
surface of the bark, cast a brilliant light over the semicircle ahead of
us, at the same time that we, behind the screen of birch-bark, were hid
in utter darkness. I had heard that the swans, instead of being
frightened by torch-light, only became amazed, and even at times curious
enough to approach it, just as the deer and some other animals do. This
proved to be correct, as we had very soon a practical illustration of
it.
"We had not gone a mile down the river when we observed several white
objects within the circle of our light; and paddling a little nearer, we
saw that they were swans. We could distinguish their long, upright
necks; and saw that they had given up feeding, and were gazing with
wonder at the odd object that was approaching them.
"There were five of them in the flock; and I directed my servant to
paddle towards that which seemed nearest, and to use his oar with as
much silence as possible. At the same time I looked to the caps of my
double-barrelled gun.
"The swans for a time remained perfectly motionless, sitting high in the
water, with their long necks raised far above the surface. They
appeared to be more affected by surprise than fear.
"When we had got within about a hundred yards of them, I saw that they
began to move about, and close in to one another; at the same time was
heard proceeding from them a strange sound resembling very much the
whistle of the fallow deer. I had heard of the singing of the swan, as
a prelude to its death, and I hoped that which now reached my ears was a
similar foreboding.
"In order to make it so, I leaned forward, levelled my double-barrel--
both barrels being cocked--and waited the _moment_.
"The birds had `clumped' together, until their long serpent-like necks
crossed each other. A few more noiseless strokes of the paddle brought
me within reach, and aiming for the heads of three that `lined,' I
pulled both triggers at once.
"The immense recoil flung me back, and the smoke for a moment prevented
us from seeing the effect.
"As soon as it had been wafted aside, our eyes were feasted by the sight
of two large white objects floating down the current, while a third,
evidently wounded, struggled along the surface, and beating the water
into foam with its broad wings.
"The remaining two had risen high into the air, and were heard uttering
their loud trumpet-notes as they winged their flight through the dark
heavens.
"We soon bagged our game, both dead and wounded, and saw that they were
a large `gander' and two young birds.
"It was a successful beginning; and having replenished our torch, we
continued to float downward in search of more. Half a mile farther on,
we came in sight of three others, one of which we succeeded in killing.
"Another `spell' of paddling brought us to a third flock, out of which I
got one for each barrel of my gun; and a short distance below I
succeeded in killing a pair of the grey wild geese.
"In this way we kept down the river for at least ten miles I should
think, killing both swans and geese as we went. Indeed, the novelty of
the thing, the wild scenery through which we passed--rendered more wild
and picturesque by the glare of the torch--and the excitement of
success, all combined to render the sport most attractive; and but that
our `pine-knots' had run out, I would have continued it until morning.
"The failure of these at length brought our shooting to a termination,
and we were compelled to put about, and undertake the much less
pleasant, and much more laborious, task, of paddling ten miles
up-stream. The consciousness, however, of having performed a great
feat--in the language of the Canadian hunters, a grand `_coup_,' made
the labour seem more light, and we soon arrived at the settlement, and
next morning triumphantly paraded our game-bag in front of our `lodge.'
"Its contents were twelve trumpeter-swans, besides three of the
`hoopers.' We had also a pair of Canada geese; a snow-goose, and three
brant,--these last being the produce of a single shot.
"The hunters of the settlement were quite envious, and could not
understand what means I had employed to get up such a `game-bag.' I
intended to have kept that for some time a secret; but the frying-pan
and the piece of blackened bark were found, and these betrayed my
stratagem; so that on the night after, a dozen canoes, with torches at
their bows, might have been seen floating down the waters of the
stream."