186 OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS, 



northern Africa. It visits our island, some- 

 times in considerable flocks, and their wild 

 "hooping" note, when heard from a con- 

 siderable elevation, as they make their way in 

 the figure of a w edge, through " the cold 

 thin atmosphere," is by no means unmusical. 

 The ancient poets fabled the swan as uttering 

 a mournfully musical prelude to its death. 

 Perhaps this idea arose from their having 

 heard the mingled voices of vast flocks of this 

 species, as they winged their way to the rivers 

 and lakes of Asia Minor. 



These notes are produced by a peculiar 

 conformation of the tube of the windpipe, 

 which, before entering the chest, makes a long 

 loop, which is received into a cavity hollowed 

 out in the keel of the breastbone throughout 

 its whole length. 



The hooper will breed in captivity. Several 

 specimens are living in the gardens of the 

 Zoological Society. 



The down and feathers of the hooper are 

 very valuable, and consequently the bird is 

 killed in great numbers, in Iceland, for the 

 sake of these products, which are not only 

 used by themselves for various purposes, but 

 exchanged in barter. In August, when the 



