182 THE SWANS 



are very impressive. When approached in the breeding haunts one 

 hears from both sexes a rather nasal, goose-like, alarm-note, deeper 

 in the male bird than in the female. It is rather a weak note for such 

 a fine bird, and is difficult to express in letters. Naumann writes it as 

 "kilkliih," which conveys very little to one who has not heard it, but 

 it does not greatly differ from the alarm-notes of the various species 

 of geese. Hantzsch describes it better as a nasal "A " or " Ang" and 

 a higher " ffd." While watching a pair in 1912 which had not yet 

 begun to nest in a marsh in Iceland, I was much interested to hear 

 several times a low but musical song from one bird, presumably the 

 male. It was a phrase of about seven distinct notes, rising slightly, 

 then falling and finally rising again. Probably this little song is only 

 uttered during the courting season ; at any rate I have failed to find 

 any description of it in any account of the bird, and there is no hint 

 of its existence even in Naumann's great work. 1 



Bewick's swan has also a loud call-note, which is uttered during 

 flight at frequent intervals. In the distance the sound of an 

 approaching herd is not unlike that of a pack of hounds, or still 

 more closely resembles the " honking " notes of wild geese. It is a less 

 musical note than that of the whooper, and though Naumann also 

 writes it as " Hung " is quite different to the whooper's call, and more 

 closely approaches the sound "tong." C. J. Patten writes it as 

 "tong, tong, bong, hong, ong, ongong," which gives some idea of the 

 varied din of honking notes in different tones which one hears as 

 a flock passes overhead. At the end of February 1904 a herd of 

 forty flew over my house on their way to Swithland reservoir in 

 Leicestershire, and all the time they were in view this continuous 

 series of answering honks was kept up. The alarm-note is apparently 

 a soft, goose-like " kuck, kuck " from the male and " kueck, kueck " from 

 the female (Naumann), but of the habits and notes of this species 

 in its breeding haunts very little is known at present. 



1 The specific name " muaicus," applied by Bechstein to this species, seems to be particularly 

 appropriate. 



