SWANS CARRIED OVER NIAGARA FALLS.
All naturalists and many sportsmen will recall the great destructionof swans which took place in March, 1908, at Niagara Falls. A greatflock of these large and beautiful birds was carried down the river andover the falls, and an authoritative account of the occurrence recentlyappeared in a paper by James Savage, of Buffalo, N. Y., printed in thebulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural History, says _Forest andStream_.
While the whistling swan occurs regularly along the Niagara River, itis always a rare migrant, and would scarcely ever be captured were itnot for the fact that it often floats down the river to injury or deathat the great cataract. Observers declare that scarcely a year passeswithout one or more swans going over the falls. About twenty made thefatal plunge in March, 1906, and five in the same month, 1907, but nosuch destruction of swans has been known as took place on March 15,1908, when more than 100 were destroyed.
During the greater part of the day a severe rain-storm prevailed. Abouteleven o'clock in the morning, between showers, William Leblond, ofNiagara Falls, Ontario, was engaged in removing from the ice bridge atemporary structure that had been used during the winter season as asouvenir and refreshment-stand, when he was startled by a loud cry.Turning around, his attention was first attracted to a swan strugglingin the water at the upper end of the ice bridge; but, on looking towardthe falls, he saw a great company of swans in distress coming towardthe bridge. The scene was a sad one for any bird-lover to contemplate.
These splendid birds, helpless after their terrible plunge over thecataract, were dashed against the ice bridge by the swift current, amidcakes of loose ice which were constantly coming down from the upperriver. Some had been killed outright by the falls. Others, unable tofly because of injury to their wings, attempted to stem the rushingwaters, but here their wonderful swimming powers were of no avail.They were soon imprisoned in the ice, where their pitiful cries wereheartrending.
The game-laws of Ontario will permit the taking of geese and swan inthe spring until April 30, and it was not long before men and boys,armed with guns and sticks, availed themselves of the privilege andbecame the chief factors in the closing scene of nature's greattragedy--the sacrifice of the swans.
As soon as he learned of the occurrence, Mr. Savage visited NiagaraFalls, and from his investigation concluded that the number of swanstaken March 15 was 102. On the morning of March 18 two more were takenat the ice bridge, and a third was picked up alive on the shore. Itwas secured by Mr. Savage and photographed. Placed in the zoologicalcollection in Delaware Park, Buffalo, it recovered. Eleven more swanswere taken later, and some others were seen which, though apparentlycarried over the falls, were still able to take wing and fly away.
But swans are not the only water-fowl that are in danger from Niagara.On March 18, 1908, Mr. Savage saw a handsome male canvasback come downagainst the ice bridge. It appeared to be unable to fly. On the sameday he saw a golden-eye duck struggle out of the foaming water belowthe Horseshoe Falls and reach the shore. It made no attempt to escapewhen picked up, and seemed unable to walk or fly. Later, however, itrecovered and did fly off.
Of the swans which went over the falls, many afterward appeared on thetable. A number were preserved by the taxidermists of Niagara Falls andToronto. A group of five appears in the museum of the Buffalo Societyof Natural Sciences. Mr. Savage saw not less than fifty of these deadbirds and looked them over carefully, thinking that perhaps there mightbe among them a trumpeter swan, but none was found. Mr. Savage believesthat fully one-third of the 116 swans taken would have survived ifgiven proper care, but the impulse to kill was stronger than the spiritto save, and not even a pair of these unfortunate birds was rescuedfrom nature's doom and restored to nature's freedom.