CYGNUS MUSICUS. 497 
up a high hill I had, from the top, an extensive view over a district 
full of small pools. Examining these with a glass I soon saw a pair 
of Swans—one on an islet and evidently perched on a great black 
nest, the other on a promontory going into the pond. In another 
direction I saw a second pair. Coming down we stalked the Swans. 
[Here the note in the Egg-book unfortunately stops, but the rest of the 
story is given in a continuation of the letter to Mr. Hewitson already quoted, 
and is as follows :— } 
“Since writing the above I have found another nest. It was on 
an island of a deep pvol in a marsh. I first saw it from a hill which 
T had ascended for the sake of carefully examining the surrounding 
country. The female Swan was asleep on the great black nest and 
the male was dozing on a little promoutory near. I was able to get 
within a couple of hundred yards before they were aware of my 
approach. The bird on the nest then waddled off, and, after 
swimming about a short time with her partner, left the water and 
walked some distance along the marsh. To get at the nest it was 
necessary to carry some trunks of trees to form a floating bridge, 
for it was too cold to swim at midnight with a north-east wind. 
There were four eggs half buried in the substance of the nest at the 
bottom of the deep cup. It was made of tufts of black moss, 
apparently gathered under water. As we were coming away, the 
man who accompanied me, in his joy at our success, pushed away 
the logs, not remembering that we had still another deep part of the 
pool to cross, before we could get back, so that he fairly cut off our 
retreat. However, in time we got assistance from the mainland. 
Once the old birds came trumpeting towards us. There were half- 
formed young in the eggs. 
“Tn the course of my expedition I saw some half dozen old nests, 
generally on the highest points of little islets rising out of the river 
or lakes. In such situations they were for the most part formed 
merely of the peat on which they rested scraped up into a conical 
mound. It is said by persons who. have frequently taken Swans’ 
nests that seven is the highest number of eggs they ever lay, four or 
five being the average.” 
[Mr. Wolley’s Diary, if the fragmentary notes made at this time may be so 
called, contains a faint sketch of this nest, from which the plate (tab. f), 
published with the first part of this work was reproduced by Mr. Jury. 
The original has written beneath it :— 
Swans’ nest birds now asleep Salmojervi midniglit 17-18 June. 
PART IV. BM 
