Colonel Hawker with regard to Swan-shooting on our 

 southern coasts, but also to a work that I consider as 

 one of the most delightful ever written on English 

 ornithology — ' Ornithological Rambles in Sussex,' by 

 A. E. Knox. The number of these northern travellers 

 that visit our coasts depends of course very greatly on 

 the weather. The winter of 1870-71 was very remark- 

 able for the abundance of Wild Swans upon our eastern 

 sea-shores, and the months of January and February of 

 the present year 1893 were hardly less so. In this 

 latter instance the valley of the Nene in Northampton- 

 shire was visited by more Swans than I had ever pre- 

 viously heard of, but many of these were Bewick's, and 

 some perfectly wild Mute Swans. Sir R. Payne-Gallwey, 

 whose experience as a punt-gunner is widely known, 

 states that the Whooper is far less common upon the 

 coast of Ireland than the smaller species that bears 

 the name of Bewick. The Whooper breeds in Iceland, 

 Norway, Swedish Lapland, Einland, Northern Russia, 

 and across Siberia ; in winter it occasionally visits the 

 Mediterranean coasts, and is common on the Black 

 Sea and the Caspian in severe weather. The Whooper 

 thrives well and has frequently bred in captivity ; it is 

 certainly less aggressive with regard to other wild-fowl 

 than the Mute Swan . Two of these birds in my posses- 

 sion made several nests, but no eggs were laid therein ; 

 after keeping these Swans for some years upon our 

 "fowl-ponds," I turned them on to the river in the 

 hope that they would destroy some of the water-weeds 

 by which it is now annually well-nigh blocked in the 

 summer months. These two birds strayed to a consider- 



