CHAPTER X 

 WILD-FOWL : SWANS. GEESE 



" With mingled sound of horns and bells, 



A far-heard clang, the wild geese fly, 



Storm-sent from Arctic moors and fells, 



Like a great arrow through the sky, 

 Two dusky lines converged in one, 

 Chasing the southward-flying sun." 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 



FOUR European species of wild swan visit this 

 country in winter: the Mute swan, Cygnus olor ; 

 the Polish swan, C. immutabilis ; the Whooper, C. 

 musicus ; and the Bewick's swan, C. bewickL The first 

 of these is well known as the semi-domesticated swan of 

 our rivers and inland waters, and of course it is quite 

 possible that some of the supposedly wild swans met 

 with by coast-shooters in hard winters are native birds 

 seeking open feeding-grounds, through the freezing up 

 of their inland fresh-water haunts. At the same time it 

 cannot be assumed that all the Mute swans found on 

 the coast and tidal rivers in severe weather are merely 

 escapes, for this bird exists and rears its young in 

 perfectly feral condition in Southern Sweden, Denmark 

 and Northern Germany in fact, nesting closer to our 

 shores than even the Whooper and Bewick's swans. 

 From point of bill to end of tail a fully adult male 



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