ANATID, 413 
THE WHOOPER SWAN. 
CyYcnus muUsicus, Bechstein. 
This species is also called the Whistling Swan, both names refer- 
ring to the peculiarity of its note; while by way of distinguishing it 
from its larger domesticated congener the prefix ‘ Wild’ is frequently 
employed. Not much more than a century ago this fine bird 
used to nest in the Orkneys, but at the present day it is only 
a migrant or winter-visitor to the British Islands. In numbers 
which vary according to the mildness or severity of the weather 
prevalent in Northern Europe, it annually resorts to the coasts and 
islands of Scotland from November onwards, while in spring 
individuals out of passing flocks have been observed to 
linger until May about the old breeding-haunts. In hard frosts 
Whoopers are often abundant on the shores of England as 
far south as the Channel, where Poole Harbour and other suit- 
able localities are favourite resorts ; while in Wales, though the bird 
is no longer a regular visitor, a lake with an island in the middle, 
near Solva, still bears the name of Llyn-yr-Alarch or Swan-lake. 
On the coasts of Ireland the Whooper is an irregular winter-visitor, 
but far less common than the smaller Bewick’s Swan. 
The Whooper is now only a visitor to the Feeroes, but is generally 
distributed during the breeding-season in Iceland; and it occa- 
