196 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



THE HOOPER OR WILD SWAN (GYGNUS 

 FERUS). 



THIS species is the most common in Britain, being 

 a general winter visitant, frequenting at this time 

 the coasts of England, and the lochs, together 

 with occasionally the shores and inland estuaries of Scot- 

 land, in severe weather, frequently ascending the courses 

 of rivers for many miles. They are said to come from the 

 north. 



There is no doubt but that the greater mass migrate 

 and incubate in the northern countries of Europe. We 

 have, however, few records of an extra-European range, 

 the American bird being now considered distinct. 



In confinement to artificial waters, this swan seems very 

 readily to accommodate itself. In the gardens of the 

 Zoological Society they have repeatedly bred. 



The wild swan is easily distinguished from the others 

 by the want of the knob and black base of the bill. This 

 member is orange-yellow for more than half its length ; 

 the colour extends forward on the edges of the mandible, 

 and forms a lengthened triangle of that colour, the apical 

 portion of the bill is black. 



The plumage is pure white, but on the head, cheeks, 

 and upper part of the neck there is often a variation 

 streaked with reddish-brown ; the young are often of a dull 

 brown ; internally the trachea forms a convolution inside 

 the keel of the sternum, entering and returning inside of 

 the osif urcatorius ; the bronchial divisions are of consider- 

 able length. 



