The Swans. 25 



Swans swim very gracefully, often with 

 partially opened wings, and they fly well. 

 They walk clumsily, and seldom leave 

 the water, except to rest on the bank. 



Both the Whooper and Bewick's Swan 

 are included by Messrs. Hume and 

 Marshall among the game birds of India, 

 but on very insufficient evidence. An 

 illustration of a Swan which was killed 

 in Nepal is among the paintings of 

 Nepalese birds made by Hodgson, and 

 now deposited in the library of the 

 Zoological Society of London. The feet 

 and the skull of, probably, the same 

 bird are to be seen in the British 

 Museum. There has been considerable 

 difference of opinion regarding the species 

 of Swan which these relics and the draw- 

 ing refer to. The latter is on a very 

 small scale, but the colouring of the 

 head, in my opinion, represents a young 

 Whooper. It is difficult to identify the 

 skull, but the feet are small enough for 

 a Bewick's Swan. On the whole, I am 

 inclined to think that Hodgson procured 

 a young Whooper, but the matter is so 

 uncertain that it is better to wait for 

 further evidence before admitting either 

 of the above species to the list of the 

 birds of India. 



