HOOPER. 183 



descent, and struck at one of the cygnets; the old male Hooper came to the rescue in 

 an instant, seized the Crow with his beak, pulled him into the water, and in spite of 

 all his bufferings and resistance, held him there till he was dead." 



A curious legend is current in some parts of Ireland respecting these birds; the fol- 

 lowing account of which we quote from Mr. Watters' "^Natural History of the Birds of 

 Ireland;" he says, "On the authority of Mr. Glennon, towards spring the small lakes in 

 the county of Mayo are tenanted by flocks of these birds, congregated there preparatory 

 to their return to those regions of snow, to which their plumage accords, and approximates 

 so chastly in appearance ; and strange to say, although they occur in considerable numbers at 

 the time, they are never interfered with or molested by the peasants of the neighbourhood, 

 on account of a tradition that the souls of virgins, who, whilst living, had been remarkable 

 for the purity of their lives, were, after death, enshrined in the form of these birds, as 

 emblematic of their purity and beatitude. For this reason they remain in safety, as it 

 is also believed that whoever would be so unlucky as to meddle with them, would pay 

 for his temerity by the forfeit of his life, ere the year had elapsed." 



The Hooper seems to submit to confinement readily, and breeds when suitable localities 

 are afforded to it; thus it has several times bred in the London Zoological Gardens, as 

 well as at Petworth, the seat of Lord Egremont. 



In this semi-domesticated state, the nest is of large size, placed near the water, and 

 composed of a considerable quantity of sedge, grass, and rushes. 



The eggs, two in number, measure four inches and one line in length, by two inches 

 and one-third in breadth. They are of a pale brownish white colour. Incubation is said 

 to occupy exactly six weeks. 



The adult Hooper has the bill black at the point; the basal portion, yellow, and of a 

 somewhat quadrangular shape ; the yellow extending forwards along the lower edge of the 

 upper mandible beyond the centre. The lore is also yellow. Irides, blackish. The whole 

 plumage is pure white; but the head and upper neck are sometimes, probably in rather 

 young birds, marked with narrow streaks of rufous brown. Tail feathers, twenty in number. 

 The legs and feet are black. 



The young birds are their first year of a pale brownish ash colour, but by their second 

 winter they become pure white. 



The length is from four feet eight inches to five feet; the expanse of the wings 

 being about eight feet. 



The weight varies from eighteen to twenty-seven pounds. 



In the Hooper the trachea, after traversing the neck, and passing through the forked 

 bone or merrythought, enters the keel of the breast-bone, which is double; and after 

 running nearly its whole length, returns and enters the chest inside the forked bone, 

 when it divides into two long bronchial tubes, one going to each lung. 



