WHITE—WHOOPER. 26a 
Waitt WuiskEy Joun: The GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 
From the pure white under-plumage and ashen-grey head 
and back, and wavering character of its flight (Swainson). 
Waite Wicrton: The SMEW. (Devonshire.) 
WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN [No. 414]. The name, 
arising from the white “shoulder,” is found in Yarrell 
(‘« Brit. Birds,” Supp., 1845). Itis the White-winged Tern 
of Gould. 
WHITE-WINGED CrossBitL. See American White-winged 
Crosshill. 
WHITE WINGED LARK [No. 57]. So called from the white 
wing-patch formed by the inner primaries and secondaries 
being white. 
Waite Wren : The WILLOW-WARBLER. (Cheshire, Scotland.) 
WaHiITTERICK : The COMMON CURLEW. (East Lothian.) 
WHITWALL. See WITWOLL. 
WHOLE Snipe: The COMMON SNIPE. So called in distinction 
from the “ Half” or JACK SNIPE. 
Wuoor: 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 
“T 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 ‘‘ J 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 
