BEWICK'S SWAN. 171 



each bird. If a shooter injure himself as a patriarch, 

 it is freely implied that such misfortune is the inevit- 

 able punishment of a swan murder (perhaps forty or 

 fifty years before) when he was young and thought- 

 less ; such never-forgotten act being alluded to as 

 the cause of harm, and handed down as evidence, 

 more especially if the accident was from a gunshot 

 wound. 



From ten to twenty swans might often be obtained 

 at a shot by the punter in Ireland in hard winters, 

 but deference is wisely paid to the prejudices of the 

 people always a diplomatic course to pursue. 



The cry of a Hooper is like the first part of its 

 name pronounced twice, and then a pause " Hoop, 

 Hoop Hoop, Hoop." That of Bewick's is most 

 musical, and sounds like the word " tong " quickly 

 uttered. The bill and head of Bewick's is blunt and 

 short in comparison with that of the larger kind, 

 which is longer and finer, and the yellow patch on 

 either side comes nearer the tip than it does in 

 the latter species. I never saw the two species 

 intermix. It is more usual to find Hoopers inland 

 on shallow lakes than on the coast, and they are by 

 no means willing to leave comfortable quarters till 

 their period of migration. 



Bewick's Swans are fond of the tidal waters, and 

 the lakes near the sea, but will leave, voyaging 

 eastward, with the advent of mild weather. Though 

 swans act thus, most wildfowl merely journey further 

 south in times of frost, and there remain till their 

 period of migration. The birds of the north of 

 Scotland will visit the south of England and Ireland 

 as a change for the better during a rigorous winter ; 



