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arrived at Tarei-nor on the 26th and 27th March (O.S.); and at Irkutsk he saw the first flocks 

 on the 3rd April. In the autumn of 1856 he noticed them returning as late as the 19th and 20th 

 September; and in the Bureja Mountains a few pairs were seen passing on the 14th August. 

 Dr. Dybowski says that it arrives in Dauria in the second half of April and returns again about the 

 middle of October ; and, according to Colonel Prjevalsky, it is seen on passage in S.E. Mongolia, 

 at Koko-nor, and may possibly breed in the marshes of Tsaidam, where the first appeared about 

 the 14th February, though the main body passes in March. It is one of the first migrants to 

 appear in spring at Lake Hanka, where a few remain to breed. Pere David records it as 

 occurring on passage in April and October near Pekin ; Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer say that it 

 is the commonest species of Swan occurring at Yezo, Japan ; and one was sent from Hakodadi 

 to Mr. Swinhoe. 



In America there are two species of White Swans, both very distinct from any of our 

 European species, though most nearly allied to the W hooper and Bewick's Swan. 



The larger of these two species, Cygnus buccinator, Richards (Faun. Bor. Am. ii. p. 464, 

 1831), has the beak entirely black, without any yellow at the base ; and a specimen from the 

 Buttes, California, measures — -gape 3*7, wing 22*0, tail 8 - 5, tarsus 4-4, middle toe 5-6. It has the 

 bill longer than the head, and the anterior end of the nostril opposite the middle of the com- 

 missure ; and it has twenty-four tail-feathers. 



The second and smaller species, Cygnus americanus, Sharpless (Doughty's Cab. N. H. i. 

 p. 185, pi. xvi. 1830), has twenty instead of twenty-four tail-feathers, has the anterior end of 

 the nostrils considerably beyond the middle of the commissure, and an orange spot anterior to 

 the eye on each side of the bill; and two specimens in the Cambridge Museum (one from the 

 Buttes, California, 5th February 1855, and the other from Saunick, Vancouver's Island, 7th 

 November 1864) measure — gape 3-4-3-5, wing 20-0-20-5, tail 6-7-6-8, tarsus 4-2, middle toe with 

 claw 5-3-5-5. 



Both Cygnus americanus and Cygnus buccinator vary considerably in size ; so that size only 

 cannot be relied on as a distinctive character. 



Cygnus americanus is included by Macgillivray as a British species on the strength of a 

 specimen he found in a poulterer's shop in Edinburgh in February 1831 ; but I scarcely think 

 that it can fairly be introduced in our list. 



In habits the Whooper does not differ much from the Mute Swan ; but in elegance of form 

 it does not come up to that bird, chiefly on account of its somewhat shorter neck, which is usually 

 held straight, and not so gracefully bent as is the case with Cygnus olor. Nor is it so clumsy on 

 dry land as the Mute Swan, but will not unfrequently seek its food there like the Wild Geese ; 

 and though it does not walk with such ease as these, yet it is able to move about with tolerable 

 facility, and a winged bird will scuttle away so quickly that it is scarcely possible for a man to 

 keep pace with it. On the wing it closely resembles the Mute Swan, though, unlike that bird, 

 it is rarely silent for long when flying, but frequently utters its trumpet-like call, which enables 

 one readily to distinguish it. It is very shy and suspicious ; and I know scarcely any bird so 

 difficult to approach within gunshot-range. When on passage, and in winter, the Whooper is 

 gregarious, and collects together in tolerably large flocks ; but it does not breed in colonies. 

 When migrating, the flocks of these birds fly in wedge-fashion like the Wild Geese, and the 



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