190 Mr. Blackwall on the Cygnus Bewickii. 



lately occurred in the neighbourhood in which I reside. About half-past 

 eight on the morning of the 10th of December, 1829, a flock of twenty- 

 nine Swans, mistaken by many persons who saw them for wild geese, 

 was flying over the township of Crumpsall, at an elevation not exceeding 

 fifty yards above the surface of the earth. They flew in a line, taking a 

 northerly direction, and their loud calls, for they were very clamorous 

 when on wing, might be heard to a considerable distance. I afterwards 

 learned that they alighted on an extensive reservoir near Middleton, 

 where they were shot at, and an individual had one of its wings so severely 

 injured that it was disabled from accompanying its companions in their 

 retreat. 



A short time since I had an opportunity of seeing this bird, which was 

 then living, and resembled the rest of the flock with which it had been 

 associated, and found, as I had anticipated, that it was precisely similar 

 to the small Swan preserved in the Museum at Manchester, which, I 

 should state, was purchased in the fish-market in that town, about five or 

 six years ago. 



Twenty-nine of these birds congregated together, without a single 

 Whistling Swan among them, is a fact so decisive of the distinctness of 

 this species, especially when taken in connection with those external 

 characters in which it differs from the Hooper, that I should no longer 

 have deferred to describe it as a new bird to ornithologists, had I not been 

 anticipated by Mr. Yarrell. 



Of the habits and manners of this species little could be ascertained 

 from a brief inspection of a wounded individual; I may remark, however, 

 that when on the water, it had somewhat the air and appearance of a 

 Goose, carrying the neck straight and erect, and being almost wholly 

 devoid of that grace and majesty by which the Mute Swan is so advan- 

 tageously distinguished. It appeared to be a shy and timid bird, and 

 could only be approached near by stratagem, when it intimated its appre- 

 hension by uttering its call. It carefully avoided the society of a Mute 

 Swan which was on the same piece of water. 



As far as I can form an opinion from the concise abstract of Mr. Yar- 

 rell's researches relative to the bird in question, with which this article is 

 introduced, it appears to me that the conclusion at which that gentleman 

 has arrived is deduced principally from anatomical facts. If I am correct 



