WHITE WHOOPER. 253 



WHITE WHISKEY JOHN: The GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 

 From the pure white under-plumage and ashen-grey head 

 and back, and wavering character of its flight (Swainson). 



WHITE WIGEON : The SMEW. (Devonshire.) 



WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN [No. 414]. The name, 

 arising from the white "shoulder," is found in Yarrell 

 (" Brit. Birds," Supp., 1845). It is the White-winged Tern 

 of Gould. 



WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. See American White-winged 

 Crossbill. 



WHITE WINGED LARK [No. 57]. So called from the white 

 wing-patch formed by the inner primaries and secondaries 

 being white. 



WHITE WREN : The WILLOW- WARBLER. (Cheshire, Scotland.) 



WHITTERICK : The COMMON CURLEW. (East Lothian.) 



WHITWALL. See WITWOLL. 



WHOLE SNIPE : The COMMON SNIPE. So called in distinction 

 from the " Half " or JACK SNIPE. 



WHOQP : The BULLFINCH. An equivalent of Hoop. 



WHOOPER SWAN [No. 271]. This species, so called from 

 its whooping cry, is the common wild Swan of the northern 

 portions of Europe and Asia, which breeds far north and 

 migrates southwards in cold weather. It is first described 

 by Willughby (1678) who terms it " a wild Swan, called 

 also an Elk, and in some places a Hooper." 



The folk-lore and mythology of northern Europe are rich 

 in legends of the Swan. De Kay (" Bird Gods ") has shown 

 to what an extent swan-worship prevailed in ancient times. 

 The extent to which it has figured in heraldry alone shows 

 the regard in which it was held in rather later times. The 

 ancient oath on the Swan, still sometimes surviving as 

 " I swan " or " I swanny " is obviously a survival of the 

 ancient swan-worship. It is recorded that Edward I in 

 1304, on his investiture as a knight, swore an oath on two 

 Swans decorated with gold nets. De Kay says that the 

 expression " I swan " or " it swans to me " meant originally 

 that the speaker had a prophetic feeling that something 

 was going to happen, and that the swan has from time 

 immemorial been a bird of prophecy. The same expression 

 exists in German, " Es schwanet mir," and the literature 

 and folk-lore of Germany are rich in allusions to or legends 

 of the Swan. In fact, the cradle of the ancient Swan- 

 worship and the surviving legends of the bird, as evinced 

 in names of places, stories of swan-maidens, etc., lies in 



