Re: Trumpeters MD/VA list
S. Harvey Mudd, MD (shm@codon.nih.gov)
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 14:49:51 -0500
On 1/27/99 Todd Day wrote:
>Regardless of whether or not there is evidence of Trumpeters in Maryland, does
>the quote provided by Phil Davis establish the possibility that Trumpeters
>have been in Virginia? Is Trumpeter listed in the Virginia records?
>
The excerpts from the Joseph Martin book concerning swans along the Potomoc
from the mouth of the Occoquan to 30-40 miles below were provided to me by
David Johnston, who deserves full credit for unearthing this source of
information and obtaining copies of the original 1835 publication. The
Martin book was cited in Johnston's 1996 article "Historical records of the
Trumpeter Swan". Banisteria (#7), pp. 8-10. In addition to copies of the
excerpts from Martin and the Johnston article, material relevant to the
historical distribution of Trumpeter Swans also on deposit in the files of
the Maryland/DC Records Committee (MD/DCRC) includes excerpts from an
article by W.E. Banko (1960. "The Trumpeter Swan: its history, habits, and
population in the United States". Bureau of Sports Fisheries & Wildlife,
Washington, D.C. North American Fauna 63) - an article that Johnston termed
a "thorough, scientific study of the Trumpeter Swan" - as well as excerpts
from F.C Bellrose, 1976 "Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America". Stackpole
Books, Harrisburg, PA, and a preprint of an article by P.M.Rogers and
D.A.Hammer "Ancestral breeding and wintering ranges of the Trumpeter Swan
(Cygnus buccinator) in the Eastern United States". The latter article has
just appeared in the "Bulletin of the Trumpeter Swan Society", vol 27 (#1),
December 1998 and includes a map (Figure 3) that includes both Maryland and
eastern Virginia in the wintering ranges for Trumpeter specified both by
Bellrose and by R.S. Palmer (1976. Handbook of North American Birds. Vol 2.
Waterfowl (first part) Yale University Press). (Pages 55-71 of the Palmer
account, covering Trumpeter Swan, are also in the files of MD/DCRC). Based
on Charlotte Friend's mention of the Johnston article in her posting of
today, the Virginia Records Committee is clearly aware of that article and
the others cited by Johnston (including most, perhaps all, of those
mentioned above). However, if copies of any of the material in the files of
MD/DCRC would be useful to the Virginia committee, I am certain Phil Davis
would be happy to provide them.
Harvey Mudd
____________________________________
S. Harvey Mudd
NIMH/DIRP/LMB
Building 36, Room 1B-08
36 CONVENT DR MSC 4034
BETHESDA MD 20892-4034
tel: 301-496-0681; fax 301-402-0245
email: shm@codon.nih.gov