188 ANATID.E. 



the middle of the beak. Neck slender and very long. Legs short, the hind toe 

 small and free. 



THE HOOPER, so called on account of the peculiar note 

 uttered by this bird, is a winter visiter to the British Is- 

 lands, even to the southern parts, arriving in flocks, some- 

 times as late as Christmas, and are generally more nume- 

 rous as the weather becomes more severe. The Rev. Mr. 

 Low, in his natural history of Orkney and Shetland, says, 

 4< The Wild Swan is found at all seasons in Orkney ; a 

 few pairs build in the holms of the loch of Stenness. These, 

 however, are nothing to the flocks that visit us in October 

 from the more northern climates, their summer retreats. 

 Part of these continue with us all the winter, and the rest 

 go to Caithness and the other northern shires of Scotland ; 

 in April they go off again to the northward, except the 

 few which remain here for the summer. Like the wild 

 geese, these birds fly in the fashion of a wedge, making 

 a fine melodious clang, which has, perhaps, furnished one 

 occasion to give a musical voice to this bird." Mr. Bonn, 

 the botanist, says a few visit the lakes of Forfarshire. 

 In December various flocks are seen flying in compact 

 bodies, directing their course southward, particularly along 

 the coast lines, and many specimens are to be seen in the 

 London markets, which are sometimes supplied to pro- 

 fusion. Many reach the sea on our southern coast. The 

 late lamented Earl of Malmesbury sent me, in the spring 

 of the year 1838, a list of four hundred and sixteen wild 

 fowl, killed at Heron Court during the frost of the pre- 

 vious January and February, namely, from January the 

 9th to February the 24th. This list included thirty-three 

 Hoopers. And Colonel Hawker describes with his usual 

 skill the many successful shots he had made at Swans, 

 when wild-fowl shooting between Lymington and Poole 



