"The epithet _musicus_," says Faber, "is well bestowed on these birds, for when a little flock of them approaches, flying in the air, their tuneful melancholy voices sound like trumpets heard at a distance. Olaf tells us, "when a company of these birds passes through the air, their song during the long winter nights is truly delightful, equal to the notes of a violin." "It is certain," says Arman, "that the voice of a Singing Swan has a more silvery tone than that of any other creature. When wounded, its breath produces this silver sound, so that its song is celebrated in many a Russian ballad." Oesel says, "Their song consists of two notes, which when uttered by the whole flock are very loud, and may be heard at the distance of three English miles." "At last," says Homeyer, "I have heard the voice of the Singing Swan. Eight or ten of these birds were swimming about a hundred yards from the shore, and uttering their loud full-sounding notes. I cannot say that any melody was distinguishable; there was first a single, long-drawn, well-sounding note, followed by another in a lower key, so that altogether they formed a sound that was not inharmonious. Notwithstanding the distance at which I was, the notes were brought distinctly to my ear over the water." Schilling expresses himself still more plainly: "When, owing to the intensity of the frost the water of the sea is frozen, and the streams everywhere converted into ice, and the Swans are thus shut out from all the shallows where they usually obtain their food, these stately birds assemble by hundreds in any patch of water that may be still accessible, and there, with melancholy cries, bewail their destitute condition. At such times during the long winter evenings, and throughout the night, I have often listened to their many-voiced lamentations, which have been heard distinctly at a distance of three or four miles. Sometimes the notes thus heard would resemble the sound of a bell, sometimes that of some wind instrument. Still it was not exactly like either of them, just as a living voice cannot be imitated by dead metal. This peculiar concert realised in my mind the truth of what I had heard concerning the song of the Swan, which I had before regarded as a poetical fiction. Indeed, in one sense it might truly be called the death-song of these beautiful creatures, for, seeing that they are quite unable to obtain their food in deep water, they must soon die of hunger, as they no longer have strength enough to fly to a warmer climate, and are thus often found starved to death and frozen upon the ice; still to the last we hear their clear melancholy voice."