THE TRUE SWANS. 



253 



Range outside the British Islands. Bewick's Swan breeds in 

 North-eastern Russia and in Northern Siberia. It may even 

 be found to nest throughout the Arctic Regions of the Old 

 World, more especially on the islands, as it occurs in winter in 

 the Japanese and Chinese Seas. Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie- 

 Brown found the species breeding on the Petchora, and, until 

 last year, this was the most western breeding-range recorded 

 for the species, but Mr. Trevor-Battye has now procured it on 

 Kolguev, as was predicted in 1885 by Mr. Seebohm (Hist. Br. 

 B. iii. p. 485), when he wrote : " We are driven to believe that 

 the Swans which are known to breed in great numbers on the 

 island of Novaya Zemlya and Kolguev, and of which the species 

 has not yet been determined, are Bewick's Swans, which mi- 

 grate east in autumn, give the shores of Norway a wide berth, 

 and drop down to winter on the western coasts of our islands." 

 The occurrences of the species on the coasts of Northern Europe 

 are few, with the exception of the British Islands, though it has 

 been known to visit even the Mediterranean countries occa- 

 sionally. 



Habits For the account of these I am obliged once more to 

 give an extract from Mr. Seebohm's work on British Birds, as he 

 is almost the only naturalist who has seen this Swan in its breed- 

 ing-haunts, and has given an account of its habits. He writes : 

 "The first Swan which ventured as far north as the Arctic 

 Circle, in the valley of the Yenesei, during the weary months 

 when Captain Wiggins and I were waiting for the arrival of 

 summer, was seen on the 5th of May. It is probable, how- 

 ever, that this pioneer soon returned to the south, as we saw 

 nothing more of them for some weeks. On the 9th Geese began 

 to arrive, after the i6th they came in considerable numbers ; but 

 we saw no more Swans until the 28th, when many flocks 

 passed over. During the next fortnight hundreds of large and 

 small flocks winged their way over our heads, after which we 

 saw no more of them until we got down to the Delta. They 

 are quite as noisy as their allies, and are constantly calling to 

 each other as they fly over, but their note is not so harsh. 

 I call it a musical bark ; Naumann expresses it as klung ; 

 and Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey as tong, musically and quickly 

 uttered. 



" Bewick's Swan is quite as shy and difficult of approach as 



