The Land of the Hills and the Glens 



proached too closely, and rose quickly into the air — and this 

 is a point which distinguishes the wild from the domes- 

 ticated swan, namely, that the wild species shows greater 

 speed by far in launching itself into space than does our 

 own mute swan, or even the wild duck. 



The swans moved rapidly through the air by means of 

 powerful wing beats, and passed backwards and forAvards 

 several times above the surface of the creek before slant- 

 ing earthwards, and descending on the ice, their momentum 

 sending them sliding forward a considerable distance. 



A few miles to the westward lies a shallow loch, the 

 home of countless wild fowl during the winter months, and 

 here a few hours later I witnessed one of the most inter- 

 esting and beautiful pictures of bird life that it has ever 

 been my good fortune to enjoy. 



The loch was frozen over, and at one end numbersi 

 of disconsolate gulls were standing on the ice. But at 

 the far corner a great company of Bewick swans were 

 swimming restlessly backwards and forwards across a 

 narrow lane of open water, a lane which they had kept 

 open by continued movement all through the night. A 

 clamour of many notes was borne to the ear, notes musical 

 and bell-like, and pitched in many keys. From time to 

 time the sounds died away, but for a second or two only. 

 A horse and trap passed along the water's edge, yet the 

 swans paid little or no heed to it, so intent were they on 

 preventing the frost from gripping the narrow waterway, 

 and their voices carried far in the quiet air. It is always 

 with their music that the wild swans herald the approach 

 of frost; throughout the night, when the ice is silently 

 binding the lochs, their notes are loud and insistent, never 

 ceasing as they swim activelv through the water, but with 

 the coming of the thaw they are again silent, or nearly so. 



Not often is the air so clear in the Western Isles as 

 was the case this quiet November day. From the loch 

 where the swans have their winter home a great expanse 



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