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This Swan inhabits Northern Europe and Asia, ranging south, like its allies, at the approach 

 of winter. It was supposed by Brehm, Naumann, and many continental authors to inhabit 

 Iceland ; but subsequent research has shown that Cygnus musicus is the only species found there ; 

 and Eeinhardt expressly states (Naturh. Tidsk. ii. p. 532) that Bewick's Swan has never been 

 obtained on that island. Nor has it occurred in Greenland ; but, together with the Whooper, it 

 is a regular visitant to the shores of Great Britain during the winter season, and is sometimes as 

 numerous, if not more so than that species. It has been obtained in most parts of our coasts ; 

 and I have frequently seen specimens in Leadenhall Market. Mr. Cecil Smith believes that it 

 visits the Channel Islands, though he has no proof that such is the case ; and it certainly occurs 

 on our southern and eastern coasts. Respecting its occurrence in Somerset, he writes: — "The 

 winter of 1878-79 was a remarkable one for Swans in this county, several making their appear- 

 ance in the end of autumn, and remaining throughout the hard weather ; there were several 

 large flocks in various parts of the moor about Athelney and Langport, which was much flooded 

 and remained under water nearly all the winter. The first I saw was a young Whooper at one of 

 the bird-stuffers' shops in Taunton ; it had been shot in the moor some time in December. The 

 next I saw was on the 29th of February, a fully adult Bewick's Swan in the flesh, at Mrs. 

 Petherick's (also a bird-stuffer at Taunton). This one had been shot out of a considerable flock 

 of Swans in Curry Moor ; the flock remained about this place till the end of February or the 

 beginning of March, after which time they seem to have departed, as I heard no more of them. 

 Again, on the 24th of February Mr. Esdaile told me that four Wild Swans had been about his 

 pond at Cotheleston for some time, and that one of them had been killed on the 10th of February 

 by a fox ; the head of this one was brought to me for identification ; and it proved to be that of 

 Bewick's Swan, as were probably the other four. These five are the only Wild Swans I have 

 heard of in this parish (Bishops Lydeard) since my father shot one close by the pond here in 

 1829. I am not quite sure whether this was a Bewick's Swan or a Whooper — probably the latter, 

 as it is usually the more common. My father set it up and kept it for a long time in his collection ; 

 but it eventually got moth-eaten, and was thrown away, and I have now only this note in my 

 father's handwriting, at the head of the notice of the Wild Swan, Elk, Hooper, or Whistling 

 Swan in his old edition of Bewick: — 'Shot at Lydeard ponds, December 30th, 1829.' Other 

 Swans, both Whoopers and Bewick's Swans, have occurred in other parts of the county at various 

 times since then, the last note I have being four wild Swans shot on the mud near Burnham in 

 January 1871, and two near Blendon, not far from Weston-super-Mare, about the same time ; but 

 whether they were Bewick's Swans or Whoopers I am unable to say, as I did not see them myself. 

 The last killed, as far as I can make out, of the flocks which made their appearance in this 

 county this year (1879) were shot near Glastonbury on the 13th of February, and were sent up to 

 Mr. Bidgood, the curator of the museum at Taunton, to be stuffed for that institution, where I saw 

 them in the flesh ; these were also adult Bewick's Swans. The flocks of Swans were more widely 

 spread this year than merely in this county, as appears from various notes in the ; Zoologist ;' 

 and some of them strayed as far as Guernsey, where one was shot in the beginning of January or 

 end of December, and was recorded in the ' Guernsey Mail and Telegraph ' for the 4th of January 

 as having been shot in that island a few days before. It was said to be a young bird, grey in 

 colour. Whether it was a Bewick's Swan or a Whooper I have not been able to make out; for 



