3i8 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



Allied Forms. — None nearer than Cygnus bewicki, a British 

 species treated fully in the following chapter. 



Time during which the Hooper Swan may be taken. 



- — August I St to March ist. 



Habits. — The Hooper migrates to and from its Arctic 

 haunts in flocks of varying size, and sometimes in pairs, not only 

 at night but during the day, as may easily be learned from its 

 loud notes uttered during flight. It begins to leave its winter 

 quarters in the south in spring, and reaches the Arctic regions 

 about the middle of May, just as the ice on the great rivers is 

 about to break up, and the snow to melt from the grounds where 

 it breeds. At first only a few pairs make their appearance, but soon 

 the migration is in full swing, and continues until the early days 

 of June. The migration south in autumn commences soon after 

 the moult is completed; in fact, whilst it is in progress the birds 

 begin to wander down the great rivers towards their winter 

 quarters, which are reached in October and November. Migrating 

 flocks of this species usually assume the form of a wedge, and 

 fly at an immense elevation. The flight is rapid enough when 

 the bird gets fairly under weigh, and the swish, swish of the long 

 wings beating regularly can be heard for long distances ; the head 

 and neck are stretched out in a straight line. The Hooper 

 spends much of its time on the water, searching round the banks 

 and in the shallows for food. It is nothing near so graceful in 

 its movements as the Mute Swan, and the neck is never so 

 beautifully curved, being almost always held up straight, except 

 when the bird is feeding. Like most big birds it is excessively 

 wary and shy, and during its sojourn in our islands is very careful 

 to keep well in the centre of the pool or lake, or at some distance 

 from shore, when not actually feeding. When disturbed from the 

 water it rises with apparent difficulty, and the long wings beat 

 the surface for some distance as the bird attempts to reach the 

 air. The Hooper feeds a good deal whilst on dry land, and 

 is very fond of swimming round the banks of a deep pool, from 

 time to time plunging the head and neck under water to explore 

 the mud and the roots of the herbage growing at the bottom. 

 The food of this species is principally of a vegetable nature — - 

 herbs, grasses, weeds, flowers, and seeds, roots, stems, buds, and 



