ANATID^. 



413 



-^^ 



THE WHOOPER SWAN. 



CvGNUs jNiusicus, Bcchstein. 



This species is also called the Whistling Swan, both names refer- 

 ring to the peculiarity of its note ; while by way of distinguishing it 

 from its larger domesticated congener the prefix ' Wild ' is frequently 

 employed. Not much more than a century ago this fine bird 

 used to nest in the Orkneys, but at the present day it is only 

 a migrant or winter-visitor to the British Islands. In numbers 

 which vary according to the mildness or severity of the weather 

 prevalent in Northern Europe, it annually resorts to the coasts and 

 islands of Scotland from November onwards, while in spring 

 individuals out of passing flocks have been observed to 

 linger until May about the old breeding-haunts. In hard frosts 

 Whoopers are often abundant on the shores of England as 

 far south as the Channel, where Poole Harbour and other suit- 

 able localities are favourite resorts ; while in Wales, though the bird 

 is no longer a regular visitor, a lake with an island in the middle, 

 near Solva, still bears the name of Llyn-yr-Alarch or Swan-lake. 

 On the coasts of Ireland the Whooper is an irregular winter-visitor, 

 but far less common than the smaller Bewick's Swan. 



The Whooper is now only a visitor to the Faeroes, but is generally 

 distributed during the breeding-season in Iceland ; and it occa- 



