EGYPTIAN GOOSE — WHOOPEE. 193 



THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE. 



Chenalopex aegyptiacus. 

 The Egyptian Goose is another species, the presence of 

 which in a truly wild state in Great Britain is open to 

 considerable doubt. As in the case of the Canada Goose, 

 the example set by Yarrell in including it is here followed. 

 Mr. Roundell gave the Messrs. Matthews information of one 

 shot on a large piece of water at Shelswell, as far back as 

 1822, and the same writers mentioned an example shot by the 

 Duke of Marlborough's gamekeeper, on the lake at Blenheim, 

 in December, 1847. Two which were shot at Cowley, in the 

 middle of June, 1 886, were taken to Mr. Darbey, who informs 

 me that he could find no marks of confinement on them, 

 nor could he hear of any being missing from ornamental water 

 about that time ; the season at which they were procured, how- 

 ever, almost precludes any opinion other than that they were 

 escaped birds, while other examples brought to him since then 

 exhibited unmistakable signs of captivity. 



THE WHOOPER. f ^ < 



Cygnus miisicus. 

 The Whooper, or Whistling Swan, is a rare winter visitor. 

 ' In the severe winter of 1837-8 great numbers of Wild Swans 

 visited this pai-t of the kingdom. On the morning of the 6th 

 February a flock of fifteen made a descent upon the kitchen 

 garden of these premises [Weston -on-the-Green], evidently 

 with the intention of attacking a bed of cabbages, from which 

 the snow had been thawed. They did not however settle, but 

 continued to wheel round the spot for some minutes, until 

 a shot was fired which severely wounded one of them ; ' 

 the wounded bird was captured at no great distance. (Mat- 

 thews, Zoologist, p. 2538.) In October, 1871, a young bird 

 of this species, shot on the Isis out of a flock of seven, was 

 shown to Mr. W. H. Warner at the Trout Inn, Tadpole, near 



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