BEWICK'S SWAN 183 



Swans, like wild Geese, are in the habit of returning every year 

 to the same district of country, and in passing to and from their 

 feeding-ground keep closely to the same line of flight, a peculiarity 

 of which fowlers take advantage by lying in ambuscade somewhere 

 beneath their aerial road. 



When disturbed on the water they generally huddle together 

 and utter a low cry of alarm before they take flight. Owing to 

 their great weight, they have not the power of rising suddenly into 

 the air, but flap along the water, beating the surface with their 

 great wings, some twenty or thirty yards. The flapping noise 

 made while this process is going on, may be heard at a great 

 distance. 



In severe winters, flocks of Whoopers, Whistling Swans, or Elks, 

 as they are variously called, come farther south, and may be 

 observed from time to time on different parts of the coast. 



BEWICK'S SWAN 



CYGNUS BEWICKI 



Whole plumage pure white ; bill black, orange-yellow at the base ; irides 

 dark ; feet black ; tail of eighteen feathers. Young birds greyish brown ; 

 immature specimens tinged on the head and belly with rust-red. Length 

 three feet nine inches ; breadth forty-six to fifty. Eggs dull white, tinged 

 with brown. 



Bewick's Swan is distinguished from the Whooper, not only by 

 the characters given above, but by strongly marked anatomical 

 features, which were first pointed out by Mr. YarreU, who, with 

 the modesty and generosity for which he was noted, gave it its 

 present name ; ' Thus devoting it to the memory of one whose 

 beautiful and animated delineations of subjects in natural history 

 entitle him to this tribute.' 



In severe winters it is fairly frequent on the coasts of England, 

 and even abundant in Scotland. In the case of distant flocks the 

 only criterion is size ; and as this species is one-third less than the 

 Whooper, there is little probability of an experienced observer 

 being mistaken in the identity. 



In their habits they closely resemble their congeners, but are 

 less graceful in their movements on the water, and spend a larger 

 portion of their time on land. 



