SWAN 931 



Thus much having been said of the bird which is nowadays 

 commonly called Swan, we must turn to other species, and first to 

 one that anciently must have been the exclusive bearer in England 

 of the name. This is the Whooper, Whistling or Wild Swan ^ of 

 modern usage, the Cygnus musicus or C. ferus of most authors, which 

 was doubtless always a winter-visitant to this country, and, though 

 nearly as bulky and quite as purely white in its adult plumage, is 

 at once recognizable from the species which has been half domesti- 

 cated by its wholly different but equally graceful carriage, and its 

 bill — which is black at the tip and lemon-yellow for a great part of 

 its base. This entirely distinct species is a native of Iceland, 

 eastern Lapland and northern Russia, whence it wanders southward 

 in autumn, and the musical tones it utters (contrasting with the 

 silence that has caused its relative to be often called the Mute 

 Swan) have been celebrated from the time of Homer to our own. 



ago and more that certain Swans on the Trent had white Cygnets ; and it was 

 subsequently observed of such birds that both parents and progeny had legs of a 

 paler colour, while the young had not the "blue bill " of ordinary Swans at the 

 same age that has in some parts of the country given them a name, besides offer- 

 ing a few other minor differences. These being e.xamined by Yarrell, led him to 

 announce (Proc. Zool, Soc. 1838, p. 19) the birds presenting them as forming a 

 distinct species, C. immutahilis, to which the English name of " Polish " Swan 

 had already been attached by the London poulterers. There is no question so 

 far as to the facts ; the doubt exists as to their bearing in regard to the validity 

 of the so-called "species." Though apparently wild birds, answering fairly to 

 the description, occasionally occur in hard winters in Britain, north-western 

 Europe and even in the south-east {Ibis, 1860, p. 351), their mother-country has 

 not yet been ascertained, — for the epithet "Polish "is but fanciful, — and most 

 of the information respecting them is derived only from reclaimed examples, 

 which are by no means common. Those examined by Yarrell are said to have 

 been distinctly smaller than common Swans, but those recognized of late years 

 are as distinctly larger. The matter requires further investigation, and it may 

 be remarked that occasionally Swans, so far as is known of the ordinary stock, 

 will produce one or more Cygnets difi'ering from the rest of the brood exactly in 

 the characters which have been assigned to the so-called Polish Swans as specific 

 — namely, their white plumage slightly tinged with buff, their pale legs and 

 flesh-coloured bill {Zool. 1887, p. 463 ; 1888, p. 470). It may be that here we 

 have a case of far greater interest than the mere question of specific distinction, 

 in some degree analogous to that of the so-called Pavo nigripennis before 

 mentioned (Peacock, pp. 699, 700). The most recent authorities on the Polish 

 Swan are Stevenson {B. Norf. iii. 111-121), and Southwell {Trails. Norf. & Norw. 

 Nat. Soc. ii. pp. 258-260), as well, of course, as Dresser {B. Eur. vi. pp. 429-433, 

 pi. 419, figs. 1, 2). Gerbe, in his edition of Degland's OrnitJwlogie Europ6enne 

 (ii, p. 477), makes the amusing mistake of attributing its name to the 

 '■'■ fourrciirs" (furrier.s) of London, and of rendering it " Cygne du pole" ! 



^ In some districts it is called by wild-fowlers Elk (p. 194), cognate with the 

 Icelandic Alft and the Old German Elbs or Elps {cf. Gesner, Orn. pp. 358, 359), 

 though by modern Germans Elb-schwan seems to be used for the preceding 

 species. 



