SWANS — GEESE— HARLEQUIN DUCK 7 



come from Lapland and northern Russia. But this splendid swan inhabits not 



only the north of Europe and Asia, but also the Boreal zone of North America. In 



Iceland some remain throughout the year, but these resort to the open sea when 



the inland lakes are frozen. In America the swans migrate as far south in winter 



as Virginia, Carolina, and Louisiana. The Siberian birds winter partly on the 



Black Sea, and partly on the Caspian, but some remain on the large lakes of 



southern Siberia and China; and in the latter country are sometimes seen in 



numbers on the lakes near the imperial palace at Peking. 



In disposition the whooper is a decidedly quarrelsome and tyrannical bird, 



which flies very high while migrating, when it often utters the deep "whoop" 



from which its familiar name is derived. Of practically the same size as the mute 



swan, it lacks the peculiarly graceful movements of the neck of that bird. Like 



the mute swan it is wholly white, but majr be distinguished from the latter by the 



jet black feet and the colouring of the beak, which is yellow from the base to 



beyond the nostrils, and elsewhere black. The much smaller Bewick's swan 



(C. bewicki) is another species travelling south every winter, when it passes 



through Finland, crosses the Baltic, and visits Scotland, England, Holland, and 



north Germany on its way, journeying almost regularly every year in October and 



March. Bewick's swan inhabits nearly the same countries as the whistling swan, 



but seems to go farther north ; it has been met with nesting in Novaia Zemlia, but 



its principal breeding-area is northern Siberia, whence it visits southern Siberia, 



northern China, and Mongolia, where it spends the winter. In Turkestan and 



Persia it has apparently not yet been observed, but in Astrakhan it has been seen 



passing in great numbers, which probably winter on the shores of the Caspian. 



This bird much resembles the whistling swan, but is 10 inches shorter, its length 



not exceeding 50 inches ; the yellow in its beak meets the black just at the nostrils, 



beyond which it does not extend. 



The geese are represented in the north Asiatic tundra by the 

 Geese. . . 



bean-goose, and the white fronted species, which are both breeding 



birds in this area, as well as by the snow-goose (Chen hyperboreus), which is 



seldom seen in Europe. All these birds rarely winter on the Caspian, but are 



seen in innumerable flocks in China, Japan, and Korea, and in the southern states 



of North America, and occasionally wander to Mexico and the West Indies. The 



snow-goose is a common bird in the Arctic zone of North America, whereas in 



north-eastern Asia it nests on the inland lakes and swamps within the Arctic 



Circle. It is caught in great numbers by the natives of the north for the sake of 



its savoury flesh and its excellent feathers, which are preserved in pits dug in the 



frozen ground of the tundra, where they are covered up with earth. With the 



exception of the black tips of its wings, the plumage of the snow-goose is entirely 



white, but the feet and beak are bright red. 



The beautiful harlequin duck (Cosmonetta histrionica), which 



Harlequin Duck. , , ,,-,..-,! • • xi u £ 



belongs to the divmg-ducks, appears m winter on the shores oi 



England and Germany, occasionally on the Rhine, the Main, and the upper 



Danube, and less frequently on the Lake of Constance. It inhabits the Arctic 



zone of Europe, Asia, and America, but is particularly abundant in Siberia, where 



it is found nesting down to the Caspian and the Sea of Aral. It is more frequent 



