1 62 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



on any account, for fear of such an act being followed 

 by some dire misfortune. Even on my own part of 

 the coast these birds were regarded with a certain 

 amount of respect, for their cries, and the swish, swish, 

 swish of their mighty wings as they passed on their 

 way at night, kept them in many instances from 

 being fired at, even by shooters who were very eager 

 to pull trigger at anything in the shape of fowl that 

 might be seen either on the marshes or above them. 

 I knew some who were not thus withheld from shoot- 

 ing the swans, but these were among the younger 

 spirits, and although these paid some deference at 

 times to traditional rules, they were not quite so tied 

 by them as were their elders. What really became 

 of those that were shot I do not know, beyond the 

 fact that one or two were skinned to make tippets of. 

 Five shillings would buy one of these at any time, 

 so they were not thought much of there, whereas a 

 crown-piece was. 



Our domestic swans, at least they may almost be 

 regarded as such, get decoyed away at times and 

 visit the tide, but the difference can be seen at once, 

 after it is too late, and the bird has been shot ; 

 especially if " swan marks " are on the upper part of 

 the bill. 



Bewick's Swan is the small wild swan of the 

 fowlers. Seven is the greatest number I have ever 

 seen of them together, and, like the Whooping Swan, 

 it can only be considered as an irregular visitor to 

 English coasts, and particularly so on the southern 

 ones where I have seen them. 



The American Swan and the Polish Swan I shall 



