254 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



its ally ; but there is not the slightest necessity to shoot this 

 handsome bird in order to identify the species. It is fond of 

 walking and standing on the mud or sand on the banks of the 

 rivers and lakes where it feeds. All that is necessary is to 

 mark down the place, find the heavy footprints, and measure 

 them. The impress of the middle toe of Bewick's Swan, from 

 the centre of the ball of the heel to the centre of the ball next 

 the claw, measures five inches and a quarter ; the footprints 

 left by the Whooper measure an inch or more longer. 



" Bewick's Swan scarcely differs from its ally in its habits, 

 food, or in its choice of feeding- or breeding-grounds. Our 

 trusty Samoyede servant in the Petchora brought us a 

 Bewick's Swan which he had shot from a herd of nine, as they 

 were swimming near the edge of a large lake. He succeeded 

 in stalking up to within thirty paces of them, when they caught 

 the alarm, immediately swam up close together, pausing for 

 a moment to listen with upstretched necks. St. John de- 

 scribes the same habit of the Whooper in the north of Scot- 

 land." 



Nest. This is said by Mr. Seebohm's collectors to be like 

 that of the Whooper. Mr. Trevor-Battye found the nest of 

 Bewick's Swan in Kolguev, and says that it was a mound 

 about 2 feet 6 inches in height and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter 

 at the base. " It was perfectly smooth and symmetrical, taper- 

 ing till the circular top was no more than about two feet across. 

 The structure was entirely composed of little bunches of green 

 moss, with the exception of a very little lichen, and a chance 

 bit, here and there, of short light dead grass, pulled up with 

 the moss ; of course there were no green grasses or reeds as 

 yet, and not a single piece of dead reed had been used. 

 There was a thin lining only to the nest of dead grass, mixed 

 with a little down." 



Eggs. Two or three in number ; white like those of the 

 Whooper, but smaller and less glossy. Axis, 3 '9-4*2 inches; 

 diam., 2 '5-2 '65. 



III. THE MUTE SWAN. CYGNUS OLOR. 



Anas olor, Gm. S. N. i. p. 501 (1788). 



