414 WHOOPER SWAN. 



sionally wanders to South Greenland, where it used to nest up to 

 Godthaab, 64- N., until exterminated by the natives. In Norway it 

 is seldom known to breed below the Arctic circle, but in Sweden, 

 Finland, and Northern Russia it is found in summer down to 

 lat. 62° N., while, up to 67°, at which Dr. Theel found it on the 

 Yenesei, it can be traced across Siberia to Kamchatka and the 

 Commander Islands. On migration it visits the estuaries and 

 inland waters of Europe, as far south as the Mediterranean, Black 

 and Caspian Seas, while in severe winters it reaches the lakes of 

 Algeria, Lower Egypt, and Palestine ; it has once been obtained in 

 Nepal, and occurs in Japan, Corea and China during the cold 

 season. 



The nest is a large structure of coarse herbage, and is generally 

 placed on an island in a lake, concealed in willow- or other scrub 

 where such covert is available. The eggs, up to 7 in number, are 

 pale yellowish-white: measurements 4*5 by 2*9 in. Incubation 

 often begins in the latter part of May ; and Dr. Palmen states that 

 the young grow so slowly as to be unable to fly until the end of 

 August, or even later. The food consists of the roots and stems 

 of aquatic weeds, and of grass. The note is a loud and trumpet- 

 like whoop, 7vhoop-whoop, whoop, and, when uttered during flight, 

 often forms a rhythmical accompaniment to the strokes of the pinions. 



The adult has the entire plumage white, with occasionally an 

 adventitious ochreous tint on the feathers of the head ; legs, toes 

 and their webs black. The anterior part of the beak is depressed 

 and black, while the basal portion is quadrangular and yellow ; this 

 latter colour extending forward beyond the openings of the black 

 nostrils. Whole length of a male 60 in. (bill 4"2) ; wing 25*5 in. ; 

 weight 22 lbs. The female is smaller. The young bird has the 

 beak of a dull flesh-colour, tipped and margined with black ; the 

 upper plumage ash-brown ; and the under parts paler as far as the 

 flesh-coloured legs, the vent being white. Fairly adult plumage is 

 attained by the second winter, but the shafts of the feathers on the 

 back are dusky until the next moult. 



The Whooper (like all the other species of the genus found in the 

 northern hemisphere — except the Mute or Tame Swan), has a 

 remarkable cavity in the keel of the sternum into which the tube 

 of the trachea passes and forms a parallel loop. In the Mute Swan 

 the keel is single and unprovided with a cavity. Some further 

 remarks will be found at the end of the next article. 



