268 DUCK GROUP 



The whoopcr swan, which measures 5 feet in length, is specially 

 characterised by the absence of a knob at the root of the beak and 

 the yellow colour of the base of this and of the bare skin in front of 

 the eyes ; the yellow extending forwards on each side beyond the 

 nostril in the form of a wedge, and presenting a strong contrast with 

 the black of the rest of the beak. In the cygnet the beak is dark 

 flesh-colour, tipped and bordered with black ; and the plumage is ashy 

 brown, paler beneath, and fading into white on the hind part of the 

 abdomen. The new!}- hatchctl chick is uniformK- white. The weight 

 may be as much as 24 lbs. 



The breeding-range of the whoopcr embraces the extreme north of 

 Europe and Asia ; Iceland, Norway north of the Arctic Circle, Lapland, 

 and Sweden and Russia as far south as latitude 62 being included 

 within this area. In winter these fine birds spread themselves over 

 the greater part of temperate Europe and Asia, inclusixe of the 

 British Isles on the one side and those of Japan on the other. At 

 the commencement of the last quarter of the eighteenth century the 

 whooper was reported to be a permanent resident in the Orkneys, 

 where it of course nested ; but this has long since ceased to be the 

 case, and the species is now known to the British Islands as a winter- 

 \isitor. In Scotland, where it is generally much more numerous than 

 in England, the wild swan usually arrives in November, and may stay 

 as late as May ; but in an unusually hard winter many of these Scotch 

 birds travel farther south in December or January, when the\' may 

 make their appearance all over the southern counties of England. To 

 Ireland it is a rare and irregular visitor, least uncommon in Ulster ; as 

 a rule onl\' about four per cent of the wild swans which visit the 

 country in winter belonging to the present species. The " whoo-hoo "- 

 like cry serves to distinguish the whooper when on the wing from the 

 much smaller Bewick's swan. 



Swans arc so well known in a domesticated or semi-domesticated con- 

 dition, and all are so similar in their habits, that it is scarcely necessary 

 to make any reference to their mode of life beyond what has been already 

 stated. It may be mentionecK however, that in the wild state they usually 

 associate in small flocks on lakes, marshes, or rivers, and occasionally re- 

 sort to the sea. Except when on migration, they seldom take wing, but 

 when they do, their flight is heavy and noisy, their long pinions making 

 an unmistakable partly creaking and partly whistling sound. It is but 

 rarely that wild swans come on land. Although their food mainly 

 consists of water-plants, it also includes pond-snails, insects, and grubs. 

 In a huge nest of sedge and grass, generally placed near water and in 



