BEWICK'S SWAN 



269 



some instances well concealed by dwarf willow-scrub, the female lays a 

 clutch of from two to four or five, or even seven, creamy-white eggs, 

 measuring about 4^ inches in length. Incubation, which usually com- 

 mences in May, lasts forty-two da}-s ; and both parents swim about 

 with the cygnets. Swans of both sexes are bold and pugnacious birds 

 when they have cygnets, advancing to the attack with ruffled wings 

 and a loud hissing cry ; and an instance is known where a crow that 

 had attempted to attack the cygnets while on land was seized by the 

 male bird and drowned. The curious habit possessed b}^ swans of 

 swimming with one leg out of the water is probably well known to 

 most persons. In some works the species is described under the name 

 of Cygniis cygrms. 



(Cygnus bewieki) 



Bewick's Swan '^^^^ swan which takes its name from the earl)- British 

 ornithologist Bewick is to a great extent a miniature 

 of the last, with which it agrees in habits and in the 

 colour of its eggs. In addition to its inferior size (the length not 

 exceeding 4 feet 2 inches), it ma}', however, be distinguished b}- the 

 yellow area on the beak 

 being restricted to the 

 sides, where it forms a 

 conical patch, which ex- 

 tends backwards over the 

 bare skin in front of each 

 eye. Cygnets are greyish 

 brown, with yellow eyes ; 

 and attain the adult white 

 dress at the end of their 

 second year. The chick 

 in down is greyish above 

 and white below. The 

 weight of the adult is 

 from 13 to 15 lbs. 



The breeding-range of Bewick's swan extends from the neighbour- 

 hood of the White Sea and the Petchora far eastwards into Siberia, 

 although its limits in the latter direction do not appear to be definitely 

 ascertained. Although less common in England than the whooper, 

 this swan appears to be much more abundant than the latter in the 

 Hebrides, the north of Scotland, and Ireland, where, as already 

 mentioned, it is estimated to form about ninety-six per cent of the 

 wild swans. Indeed, in severe winters these swans occur in hundreds 



Bl-WlLK 5 ^\\".\.\.-. 



