226 ANATID^J. 



Ornithological Society of London purchased of Mr. Castang, 

 the dealer in birds, whose name was referred to under 

 the article on the Hooping Swan, a pair of these Polish 

 Swans with a young bird of their own brood, and this 

 cygnet was also white. This appeared to be a specific 

 peculiarity worthy of consideration ; the parent birds were 

 remarkable besides, in having the legs, toes, and their 

 intervening membranes of a pale ash-grey colour ; the 

 black tubercle at the base of the beak was of small size, 

 and there is a slight difference in the nostrils, the elongated 

 openings of which do not reach the black colour at the 

 base of the beakj on each side, but are entirely surrounded 

 by the orange colour of the beak, as shown in the re- 

 presentation. Unfortunately both the old female and the 

 young bird died in the following winter. The old male, 

 now in his ninth or tenth year, at the least, has but a 

 small tubercle at the base of the beak, and his legs and 

 feet, though a little darker than formerly, are still of a pale 

 slate grey. This bird has never paired ; and can scarcely 

 be said to associate with any of the Mute Swans on the 

 same water. 



In the months of January and February 1838, Swans of 

 all sorts were more abundant than I ever remember to 

 have seen them, and I have already adverted to the great 

 number of Hoopers and Bewick's Swans which were seen 

 and killed at that season. The more intense the frost, the 

 farther south do the usual winter visiters extend their 

 range ; while new, or very rare species from extreme 

 northern latitudes are occasionally obtained. 



During the severe weather of January 1838, several 

 flocks of these Polish Swans were seen pursuing a southern 

 course along the line of our north-east coast, from Scotland 

 to the mouth of the Thames, and several specimens were 



