WILD SWANS 



WILD swans are the largest game of the fowler, and 

 it is in October that he nightly watches for their 

 coming. They call as they fly across the leaden 

 sky, and their cries are as wild as the regions from 

 which they come. There are four British species 

 all of them winter visitants, coming to our shores 

 in greater or less abundance according to the 

 severity of the weather. Like wild geese, swans 

 fly in wedge-shaped flocks low over the land, 

 ascending as they approach the sea, and always 

 with outstretched necks. Although the beat of 

 their heavy wings seems slow, yet they travel at an 

 immense speed. 



One of the best known of the British species is the 

 whooper, elk or whistling swan. As they fly they 

 give out a wild, melodious clang, which has helped 

 to furnish them with their names. The whooper 

 is the largest of our wild swans, and in October and 

 November appears in flocks of from ten to fifty, 

 these becoming larger as the weather grows more 

 severe. They are more frequent in Scotland than 

 in England, and at one time bred in the Orkneys. 

 It is said that even now, during the northward 



spring migration, individual pairs linger among the 

 p 225 



