Mr. Selby on a new Species of Swan. 17 



No. V. — Observations on the new Species of Swan, discovered by 

 Mr. Richard Wingate, of Newcastle upon Tyne, By P. J. Selby, 

 Esq., F. R. S. E., F. L. S., M. W. S., &c. &c. 



Read February 16, 18S0. 



In submitting to the Society the following observations upon a new 

 species of Swan lately discovered by Mr. Richard Wingate, it is far 

 from my wish to interfere with, or in anyway to detract from, the merit 

 so justly due to him, as its first discoverer. The design of this paper, on 

 the contrary, is to endeavour, by a more detailed account than has 

 hitherto appeared, to prove the accuracy of his views, in considering it 

 from the first as a species distinct from the common "Wild Swan or 

 Hooper (Cygnusferus), and that, as such, it ought, without further he- 

 sitation, to be added to the list of our native Fauna. To facilitate this it 

 has happily been suggested, that it should receive the specific appella- 

 tion of Bewichii, as a mark of respect, no more than due, to the memory 

 of our late celebrated naturalist and engraver, Mr. Thomas Bewick, 

 whose name must for ever remain associated, in the minds of all lovers of 

 Natural History, with British Ornithology. 



In arriving at a conclusion, in unison with Mr. Wingate, respecting 

 this bird, I have been guided by a comparison and minute examination 

 of the characters of the two species, not only as exhibited in their ex- 

 ternal form, but also their internal structure, upon which, as being con- 

 stant and similar in individuals of the same species (except where acci- 

 dent has produced mal-formation), so much dependence may confidently 

 be placed. In this examination I have been assisted by Sir Wm. Jar- 

 dine, whose abilities, as a scientific naturalist, are generally admitted, 

 and whose opinion, with respect to the subject now under consideration, 

 coincides with my own. To Mr. Yarrell, also well known for his 



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