HOOPER. 151 



village of Cookham and Maidenhead, Berkshire, and two of 

 them were shot, as Mr. Thomas Wilmot has sent me word; and 

 according to the information of the Hon. T. L. Powys, they 

 have occurred in Northamptonshire. In Cambridgeshire it is 

 not uncommon in severe winters in Whittlesea Wash, the old 

 'Squattlesea Mere' of Roger Wildrake, and some were met with 

 near Wisbeach, on the River Nene, in the middle of December, 

 1849. In Oxfordshire a flock of fifteen, one of which was shot 

 alighted in the garden of the Vicarage at Weston-on-the-Green, 

 on the Gth. of February, 1838. In Derbyshire flocks occur 

 on the Trent near Melbourne, and other places at intervals in 

 the winter. In the year 1848 many were seen, and not a few 

 killed, in Kent, near Gravesend; others also near the Thames 

 above London, beyond Richmond, in Surrey, and near Chertsey. 



They naturally frequent swamps and lakes, but especially in 

 winter, such as are near the sea, and the shore and the sea 

 itself. 



In Norfolk they are not unfrequent about the coast in winter, 

 especially in severe seasons. This remark indeed applies to the 

 country generally. Thus in the winters of 1784-5, 1788-9, 

 1813, 1814, 1819, 1823, and 1829, they were more than 

 ordinarily numerous. 



In Scotland these Swans have been shot by the Nith and 

 the Annan, in Dumfriesshire; and in Selkirkshire. 



In Ireland they occasionally appear. 



They migrate, according to the season, in March or April, 

 and October, northwards in the former months, and southwards 

 in the latter one. 



They appear not to be shy until they have been alarmed 

 by being shot at, and are quite tameable. Mr. Yarrell writes, 

 speaking of some which bred in the gardens of the Zoological 

 Society, in the summer of 1839, and again in 1842, — 'A curious 

 occurrence took place in reference to the brood of 1839. The 

 Cygnets, when only a few days old, were sunning themselves 

 on the margin of one of the islands, close to the deep water. 

 The parent birds were swimming near. A Carrion Crow made 

 a descent, and struck at one of the Cygnets, the old male 

 Hooper came to the rescue in an instant, seized the Crow with 

 his beak, pulled him into the water, and in spite of all his 

 buffetings and resistance, held him there till he was dead.' 



In the severe winter of 1S38, several Swans were found dead 

 in Orkney, apparently from the extreme cold. 



Great numbers of these birds are killed in Iceland for the 



