WHERE DOES IT BREED? 441 



population, I feel extremely doubtful, from inquiries made on 

 the spot, as to this being the case at the present day. Half- 

 domesticated birds such as ours in England may certainly 

 nest in Scania, but not genuine wild ones. 



Neither do any numbers breed in the Danish dominions. 

 In bygone days, according to Kjserbolling, a good many 

 did so in Jutland ; but of late years only a few stragglers nest 

 there, and those confine themselves to particular localities. 



But admitting that a few mute swans do breed in Sweden, 

 still the paucity of their numbers will not account for the 

 large flocks annually seen on the Scanian coast. From 

 whence do all these birds come? This is a question that 

 has often been asked, but to which no one is able to give 

 a satisfactory reply. 



In answer to my inquiries at Falsterbo, and in the 

 vicinity, one and all of the fishermen assured me that the 

 mute swans make their appearance there about Midsummer, 

 and generally in flocks of from ten to twelve ; that all are 

 white, or nearly so, and that they invariably come from the 

 eastward. Putting things together, therefore, it may be 

 fairly inferred, as it seems to me, that they are all either 

 old birds, or birds of the second year, and that the eastern 

 shores of the Baltic, or countries still further to the eastward, 

 are their proper homes. 



The mute swan is a much less hardy bird than the 

 hooper which, as said, is not in any manner affected by 

 the cold and apparently suffers considerably during severe 

 weather. This was remarkably exemplified in two very 

 fine old male birds captured when adults several years 

 before that for a long period came almost daily under my 

 notice ; for when the cold was unusually great, they would, 



