WILD-FOWL: SWANS 187 



are greyish-brown of feather for the first year, and do 

 not become wholly white until they are aged eighteen 

 months or more. The form and coloration of the head 

 and bill of the Whooper at once serves to distinguish it 

 from the rest of the British swans. It has no basal knob 

 on the bill ; the point of the bill, also its upper ridge as 

 far as the nostril cavities, is black ; the basal portion is 

 yellow, this colour extending in a > -shaped point up to 

 the eye and in similar formation below the nostrils for 

 some distance towards the point of the bill. In some 

 birds of the year the base of the bill is of paler yellow, 

 and in others it is flesh-coloured. Fully-grown Whoopers 

 measure about 5 ft. in length from point of bill to end 

 of tail, and have a wing-stretch of upwards of 7 ft. ; 

 males in good condition weigh 21 Ib. or more, females 

 some two or three pounds less. 



Bewick's swan is a much smaller bird than the 

 Whooper, for it measures only from 46 in. to 50 in. in 

 length, and weighs but 9 Ib. to 13 Ib. It is thus little 

 more than half the weight of the big wild swan, and 

 is also some 12 in. shorter in respect of .the total 

 length of neck and body. In Bewick's swan the deep 

 yellow on the basal part of the upper mandible is not so 

 extensive, the bill being black from the point up to and 

 beyond the nostrils ; in some cases the ridge of the bill 

 is black right up to the frontal feathers. Adult Bewick's 

 swans are pure white of plumage and have black legs 

 and feet. The cygnets are greyish-brown until their 

 second year is well advanced. The note of this bird 

 differs from the loud " whoop-whoop " of the Whooper, 

 sounding more like the word " tong " rapidly uttered. 

 Bewick's swan has generally a more westerly breeding 

 range than the Whooper, and, like the latter, is .usually 



