446 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Merkemore, Cotmore, ete., that the king hath geven al Swannes in the 
said waters late apperteynyng to the Marques Dorset and Sir Giles 
Dawbeney nowe in the kinges handes by reason of theire forfaictures, to 
my lord priue seale, geuen at Westm? the ix day of May anno ij.” The 
date of this early note is probably 1485. Add. MS. 4977 is entitled 
“a book of the marks of Swans, with the names of the gentlemen who 
have right to make use of them,” It is an oblong octavo in vellum, with 
an alphabet of names prefixed, and a large series of marks. It appears to 
have been written in the fifteenth century, but has several additions of a 
later period. The two swords which are given as a king's mark in Eg. 
MSS. 2412, 2413, here figure as that of the Duke of Lancaster, a title 
which merged ‘into the crown in 1899. Add. MS. 6301 is a fine large 
quarto in vellum, of twenty-eight folios, with fifteen marks on either side 
of the leaf. The two marks of the king are here styled—the first, “ for 
the Crown,” being a rude representation of that emblem; the second or 
Lancaster mark, “for the Sworde.” There is an index at the end of this 
manuscript, and at the beginning some curious notes of Swans that 
“T have marked,” “ Swans sould this yeare of our lor 1628,” and “ The 
order for Swans,” a collection of rules and observances with regard to the 
keeping and marking of these birds, with the penalties for infringement. 
The Harley MS. 3405 resembles this MS. very closely, but with occasional 
variations. Add. MS. 6302 is another vellum book, in octavo size, appa- 
rently of the time of Henry the Eighth; the king here has three marks 
allotted to his Swans. Some remarks by Sir J. Banks upon the age of the 
book are prefixed. Add. MS. 28782 is entitled “ The orders for Swanne 
Bots by the Statutes and by the Auncient Orders and Customs used in the 
Realm of England,” a vellum roll of the seventeenth century; followed by 
the Swan-marks used by the proprietors of lands on the rivers Yare and 
Waveney, co. Norfolk. Some of these are drawn vertically instead of on 
the more usual horizontal plan, and the greater number are rudely painted 
in red and black pigments. MS. Lansdowne 118 contains at folio 80 a 
list of “ Swannes marked ye xii of June, 7° E. 6, 15538,” in the handwriting 
of William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Harley MS. 4116 gives, at p. 408, a 
curious note respecting the transfer of a Swan-mark in 1662. Some 
further illustrations of this peculiar custom may be seen by reference to 
the Classed Catalogue of Manuscripts in the British Museum; and a 
careful collation of the marks, with a view to publication, would reward the 
student of English manners and customs.— From ‘ The Atheneum,’ 18th 
August, 1877. 
Bewick’s SwAN AND CaNaDA GoosE NUAR SHEFFIELD.—A few weeks 
ago I received a Bewick’s Swan which had been shot two years previously 
on a dam at Wadsley, near Sheffield. It was seen in that neighbourhood 
in March, 1875, and was supposed to have strayed from an ornamental 
