BEWICK'S SWAN 167 



wearied out by the pertinacity of the cold north-east wind, 

 goes up stream to fish in smoother waters. On his way he 

 stops at Alexievka, where we are, and we buy from him 

 a number of ducks' and gulls' eggs, also two swans' eggs 

 unusually small. As we purchase these we tell him that 

 we shall be glad to pay the price of any swan's skin he 

 can get us. He replies that the skin of the swan whose 

 eggs he has just sold to us is in the possession of his 

 partner, that the bird was trapped at the nest before they 

 were taken out of it, adding that he has left his mate 

 fishing on an island opposite Stanavialachta. On inquiry 

 we find that two of our boatmen know this man, that w r e 

 have seen him ourselves on the island where we found 

 the two shoveller's eggs ; we remember that he made 

 a haul with a seine net of a small basketful of fish 

 resembling herrings, which he presented to one of our 

 men. We now take the first opportunity to go down to 

 Stanavialachta and learn there that this peasant, dis- 

 gusted as his comrade was by the prevalence of the cold 

 north-east wind, has returned home to Mekitza. We 

 send our most intelligent man to his house and get the 

 skin. 



The relative size of the two birds is very different, as 

 may be appreciated at a glance, without the help of 

 measurements. The bill of Bewick's swan is more than 

 half an inch shorter than that of the larger species ; the 

 lengths of the wing, measuring from the carpal joint, are 

 respectively 20^ inches and 23^-; the lengths of the 

 middle toes 5-15 and 6-1. Our eggs of Bewick's swan 

 were about 3 T 9 ^ inches long. We have eggs of other 

 swans, doubtless of the large species, which measure 

 4xo> 4r 3 o> 4T 4 o> anc ^ 4r 5 o inches ; these measurements 

 make it seem probable that exceptionally large eggs of 

 Bewick's swan might be of the same size as exceptionally 



