WHOOPER SWAN 325 



often taken for a wild bird and shot, at the same time 

 there is no doubt additions that occasionally arrive from 

 the far north during severe winters. As is well known, 

 this semi-domesticated Swan is found in large numbers 

 in a wild state in Northern Europe during the breeding 

 season, and visits most of the southern parts during the 

 winter. 



Boys includes this Swan in his Birds of Sandwich, 

 1792. Mr. G. Dowker mentions it at Stourmouth, and 

 says : " Probably an escape from confinement." 



POLISH SWAN. 



Cygniis iimmitabilis, Yarrell. Proc. Zool. Soc, 

 1838, p. 19. 



In 1838, Mr. AVilliam Yarrell " exhibited a specimen 

 of this Swan at an evening meeting of the Zoological 

 Society, belonging to the Kev. L. B. Larking, of Ryarsh 

 Vicarage, near Maidstone, which was one of four shot 

 on the Medway, near Snodland Church, where a flock 

 of thirty and several smaller flocks were seen." Mr. 

 Yarrell then pointed out the distinctive characters of the 

 bird, and described it as a new species. 



WHOOPEE SWAN. 



Cygnus cijgniis (Linnaeus). 8.N., i., p. 194 (1766). 



The Whooper Swan has been more often seen and 

 obtained in Kent than the Polish Swan, but the numbers 

 greatly depend upon the severity of the winters in 

 Northern Europe. 



Boys includes it in his Birds of Sandwich, 1792. 



