252 Allen's naturalist's library. 



Nest. — A large structure, composed of dead sedge and coarse 

 herbage, and concealed in the dense willow-scrub {Seebohm). 



Eggs.— From two to four, but sometimes five and even seven, 

 eggs are found ; creamy-white in colour, slightly glossy, and 

 with the surface granulated. Axis, 4-5 inches; diam., 2-85. 



II. Bewick's swan, cygnus bewicki. 

 Cygnus bewickti, Yarrell, Trans. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 445 (1833); 

 Macg. Br. B. iv. p. 669 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 

 441, pi. 419, fig. 3 (1880); B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 121 

 (1883); Seebohm, Br. B. iii. p. 484 (1885); Saunders, 

 ed. Yarr. Br. B. iv. p. 315 (1885) ; id. Man. Br. B. p. 403 

 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part xxv. (1893); Salvad. 

 Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 29 (1895). 

 {Plate LV. Fig, ^,) 

 Adult Male. — Entirely white. Similiar to C. musiciis^ but of 

 much smaller size ; " lores and basal portion of the bill deep 

 yellow, but this colour not extending below the nostrils " ; re- 

 mainder of the bill black, this black colour reaching on to the 

 edges of the gape, and sometimes extending along the culmen ; 

 feet and toes dull black; iris hazel. Total length, 46-50 

 inches; culmen, 3*8; wing, 21 "o; tail, 8*8; tarsus, \'Z {^Sal- 

 vador i). 



Adult Female. — Similiar to the male, but a little smaller. 

 Young Birds. — Greyish-brown, becoming white in the second 

 winter, but having the bill lemon-yellow ; iris yellow. 



Character. — Bewick's Swan can be easily recognised from the 

 Whooper by its smaller size, and by the colour of the bill, 

 which has not only nearly all its basal part yellow like the 

 lores, but is further distinguished by having the black of its 

 terminal portion extended for some distance above the nostrils 

 and backwards to the gape. The bill is much smaller than in 

 the Whooper, the culmen only measuring 3-8 inches. 



Range in Great Britain. — In England this Swan must be con- 

 sidered as a rarer bird than the Whooper, but on the Scottish 

 coasts and the Outer Hebrides it occurs much more plentifully 

 than its larger relative, and this is especially the case in Ire- 

 land, where it is sometimes seen, after hard frosts, by hundreds 

 and tho.;sands. 



