GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 321 



Habits. — Bewick's Swan resembles the Hooper very closely 

 in its habits. It is a bird of regular passage to and from the 

 Arctic regions, arriving at its breeding grounds just as winter is 

 about to give way to the short, hot northern summer, and the 

 ice on the great rivers is breaking up, towards the end of May. 

 It is a gregarious bird on passage, and journeys in herds of vary- 

 ing size which usually assume a wedge-shaped formation as they 

 fly. It migrates by day as well as by night, and like its larger 

 ally is a very noisy bird on passage, the individuals of the party 

 calling to each other at intervals. This note is neither so loud nor 

 so harsh as that of the Hooper, and is aptly described by Sir 

 Ralph Payne-Gallwey as tong, short but musical. Both at its 

 summer quarters and whilst in our islands during winter Bewick's 

 Swan is a remarkably shy and cautious bird, difficult to approach 

 either on the sea or on an inland lake. During winter it is a very 

 gregarious species, sometimes congregating on certain favoured 

 waters in flocks, hundreds or even thousands strong. Its food is 

 obtained in a very similar manner to the Hooper, and consists of 

 the roots, stems, buds, flowers, seeds, and leaves of herbs and 

 aquatic plants, and of grass, insects and their larvae, and worms. 

 The bird, perhaps, feeds more whilst on land than the Hooper, 

 and is more fond of enclosed waters than the open sea. Its 

 flight is just as rapid and powerful, the long wings beat regularly 

 with a loud noise, and the bird's neck is outstretched. 



Nidification. — Very little is known of the breeding habits of 

 Bewick's Swan, and although its eggs have been obtained, no 

 naturalist has yet been fortunate enough to see them in situ or to 

 examine the nest. Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown, when in 

 the valley of the Petchora in 1875, had eggs of this bird brought to 

 them by a Russian fisherman, which were obtained, on the island 

 of Pyonin in the delta of that river. Other eggs were brought to 

 the former gentleman during his visit to the valley of the Yenesay 

 two years afterwards, which had been obtained from an island, 

 and on the mainland of the delta of that river. The nest is said 

 by the natives to resemble that of the Hooper, and to.be built in 

 a similar situation. The number of eggs in a clutch is not known 

 with certainty, but more than three have not yet been found in 

 one nest. They are smaller than those of the Hooper, whiter on 



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