598 



BEWICK'S SWAN. 



The nest of the Swan is a very large mass of reeds, rushes, and grasses set upon the bank, 

 close to the water, in some sheltered spot. Generally the bird prefers the shore of a little 

 island as a resting-place for its nest. Like other water-birds, the Swan will raise the nest by 

 adding fresh material before the rising of the water near which it is placed. There are 

 generally six or seven eggs ; large, and of a dull greenish-white. The young are of a light 

 bluish-gray color, and do not assume the beautiful white plumage until maturity. The mother 

 is very watchful over her nest and young, and in company with her mate assaults any intruder 

 upon the premises. During the first period of their life the young Swans mount on their 

 mother's back, and are thus carried from one place to another. If in the water, the Swan is 

 able to sink herself so low that the young can scramble upon her back out of the water, and if 

 on land she helps them up by means of one leg. 



THE HOOPER, ELK SWAN, or WHISTLING SWAN, may at once be distinguished from the 

 preceding species by the shape and color of the beak, which is slender, without the black 

 tubercle, and is black at the tip and yellow at the base, the latter color stretching as far as 

 the eye. 



The name of Hooper is given to this bird because its cry resembles the word "hoop" very 

 loudly uttered, and repeated many times successively. The bird arrives in Europe in the 

 winter, mostly in little bands. At the northern islands a few Hoopers remain throughout the 



year, and large 

 flocks make their 

 appearance about 

 October, departing 

 for the north in 

 April. On the wing 

 these birds generally 

 fly in the form of 

 a wedge, and cry 

 loudly as they go. 

 The curious sound 

 is produced by 

 means of the forma- 

 tion of the wind- 

 pipe, which is very 

 long, doubled upon 

 itself, and traverses 

 nearly the entire 

 length of the breast- 

 bone, which is hol- 

 lowed to receive it. 

 The length of wind- 

 pipe depends on sex 

 WHISTLING SWAN.-OMTBW mtaicw. and age, the adult 



males exhibiting this 



curious structure in the greatest perfection. In the Mute Swan the windpipe is short, and 

 does not enter the breastbone at all. 



The nest of the Hooper is like that of the Mute Swan, and the eggs are pale brownish- 

 white. The length of the Hooper is about the same as that of the mute species, i. e., 

 five feet. 



BEWICK'S SWAN, another European species, resembles the hooper in many respects, but 

 may be distinguished from that bird by its smaller size, the large patch of orange at the base 

 of the beak, and the structure of the windpipe and breastbone' which are found in the same 

 place as those of the hooper, but with considerable mollification. This is not nearly so graceful 



