98 ANATID.E. 



The Hooper, so called on account of the peculiar note 

 uttered by this bird, is a winter visiter to the British Islands, 

 even to the southern parts, arriving in flocks, sometimes as 

 late as Christmas, and are generally more numerous as the 

 weather becomes more severe. The Rev. Mr. Low, in his 

 natural history of Orkney and Shetland, says, " The Wild 

 Swan is found at all seasons in Orkney ; a few pairs build in 

 the holms of the loch of Stenness. These, however, are 

 nothing to the flocks that visit us in October from the more 

 northern climates, their summer retreats. Part of these con- 

 tinue with us all winter, and the rest go to Caithness and the 

 other northern shires of Scotland ; in April they go off again 

 to the northward, except the few which remain here for the 

 summer. Like the wild geese, these birds fly in the fashion 

 of a wedge, making a fine melodious clang, which has, per- 

 haps, furnished one occasion to give a musical voice to this 

 bird." Mr. Donn, the botanist, says a few visit the lakes of 

 Forfarshire. In December various flocks are seen flying in 

 compact bodies, directing their course southward, particularly 

 along the coast lines, and many specimens are to be seen in 

 the London markets, which are sometimes supplied to pro- 

 fusion. Many reach the sea on our southern coast. The late 

 lamented Earl of Malmesbury sent me, in the spring of the 

 year 1838, a list of four hundred and sixteen wild fowl, 

 killed at Heron Court during the frost of the previous Janu- 

 ary and February, namely, from January the 9th to February 

 the 24th. This list included thirty-three Hoopers. And 

 Colonel Hawker describes with his usual skill the many suc- 

 cessful shots he had made at swans, when wild-fowl shooting 

 between Lymington and Poole harbour ; " the Hoopers, be- 

 fore they have been shot at, are easier of access than many 

 other wild birds ; and if, when flying, they are fired at di- 

 rectly under the hollow of the wing, or, when swimming, 

 through the head, they may be stopped at a reasonable dis- 



