Whooper. 471 



singular formation of the upper mandible of this bird, which 

 possesses a hinge-like joint, allowing a greater extension and 

 distension of the mouth. St. John remarks that c when Wild 

 Swans are feeding one always keeps his head above water as 

 sentinel;' and Montagu that it 'carries its head straight and 

 erect, either upon the water or when stationary on land ; but in 

 walking the head is lowered, and the neck reclines over the back.' 

 In Ireland there is a deeply-rooted superstition that something 

 dreadful will happen to him who has the misfortune to kill a 

 Swan, for the Irish entertain the strange belief that a departed 

 spirit, perhaps of one of their own kin, is imprisoned in the 

 outward form of each bird of this genus.* There is yet another 

 fable connected with this bird, very commonly believed in 

 England viz., that it is able to break a man's arm or leg by the 

 stroke of its wing. But for this there is no sort of foundation ; 

 indeed, as uncompromising Montagu remarked, the tale is quite 

 ridiculous. If I may judge from the only specimen which I ever 

 obtained in the flesh, through a gunner on the coast of the Wash, 

 and which, after I had taken off its skin, we roasted and ate, I 

 should pronounce the flesh tough, and the flavour coarse and un- 

 palatable. There were some, however, of the large party which 

 partook of it who declared it to be good, especially when cold. 

 In France it is Cygne d bee jaune ou sauvage ; in Germany, Der 

 Singschwan ; in Italy, Gygno salvatico ; and in Sweden, Vild 

 Svan.-f* 



184. MUTE SWAN (Gygnus olor). 



I am somewhat at a loss to know why this species should be 

 reckoned as a British bird, seeing that it certainly cannot be 

 called fera naturce in these islands. However, as it is included 

 in all the British lists, and as we have our share of this hand- 

 some bird in all parts of the county, I, of course, follow suit, and 

 add it to my Wiltshire catalogue. Though, for the most part, 



Sir R. Payne- G all wey's 'Fowler in Ireland,' pp. 164-171. - 



f For an account of the Whooper in its natural haunts, see Scebohm 



and Harvie Brown on the ' Birds of the Lower Petchora,' in Ibis for 1876, 



p. 437. 



