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Hamond that in the last week of December he had seen a ' herd' of forty passing along the 

 coast at Horsey, near Yarmouth ; and during the first week in January a flock of twenty-six were 

 observed on one occasion feeding close inshore off Holme Point, near Hunstanton ; and another 

 lot of seven frequented the entrance to Heacham creek. On the 12th several appeared off the 

 Sherringham beach, passing along the coast; and on the same day, far inland, a considerable 

 number were both heard and seen passing over the town of Wymondham, near Norwich) 

 Several made their appearance on the smaller streams in the immediate neighbourhood of this 

 city ; and about the same time I heard of a flight, of which sixty are said to have been counted, 

 that passed over the town of Aylsham, some ten miles from the sea. At Yarmouth, on the 18th, 

 a ' herd ' of eighteen settled on Breydon water, but escaped from the gunners ; and, strange to 

 say, with the exception of a fine adult bird shot on the lake at Kimberley, on the 20th of 

 January, none appeared for sale in the Norwich Market or in the shops of our birdstuffers till 

 early in the following month. From the 6th to the 10th of February the weather was warm 

 and sunny, but only to be followed by more snow and a biting wind frost, far more trying to 

 fowl of all kinds than any thing previously experienced; whilst a terrific gale on the 10th, with 

 blinding snow-storms, strewed our eastern coast with wrecks, and compelled shore birds of all 

 descriptions to take shelter inland. During this month several Whoopers were killed on Breydon, 

 many more along the shores of the Wash, and others inland in various localities ; but as to the 

 numbers actually procured in Norfolk during that and the preceding month I have no means of 

 judging accurately, since by far the larger portion were sent up to London for sale, only some 

 half-dozen appearing at intervals in the Norwich Mai'ket. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., was informed 

 by a dealer in Leadenhall Market that he had received as many as a hundred Whoopers during 

 the frost, chiefly from King's Lynn ; and one poulterer at Lynn stated he had had thirty." 



Mr. Cordeaux says that it occurs nearly every winter on the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire 

 coasts and within the Humber, and in the severe seasons of 1864-65, 1870-71, these Swans 

 were particularly abundant. Mr. Hancock also remarks that in Northumberland and Durham 

 the Whooper is " a rather common winter visitant. Prestwick Car was a great resort of this 

 species, which was seen there every winter. It also frequently visited Fenham Flats, where 

 Edmund Crawshay, Esq., has shot several. In the winter of 1871 three of these noble birds 

 joined the Mute Swans on Gosforth lake. A hole having been made in the ice for their accom- 

 modation, they all fed together, and the strangers became remarkably tame. They were at length 

 captured and pinioned. In the spring all three disappeared : they had wandered, probably 

 obeying the impulse to migrate ; and two of them may have fallen a prey to the fox, as only one 

 returned, and is still on the lake." 



In Scotland this Swan is frequently met with, its appearance being regulated by the state of 

 the weather. It usually arrives in the Outer Hebrides in November, though earlier than that in 

 some years, especially during the prevalence of northerly winds ; and about the middle of April, 

 Mr. Robert Gray says, " the noble congregation breaks up into detachments, as the Bernacle 

 Geese are known to do ; and after much sounding of bugles summoning the feathered hosts into 

 the air, they soon get into their line of flight, and are afterwards seen at a great height steering 

 for their northern home." According to Dr. Saxby, the Whooper arrives in large flocks in 

 September and October, only staying long enough to rest; and it reappears sometimes as early 



