1176 Birds. 



favourite localities are moist meadows and corn-fields. It is insect- 

 ivorous as well as granivorous. 



Spotted Crake, or Gallinule, Crex Porzana. This elegant spe- 

 cies has been shot in Mordon Carrs, to the south-west of Sedge- 

 field, and likewise on October 4th, 1832, in the old bed of the Tees 

 near Mandale Mill. Considered as a bird of passage. 



Water Rail, Rallus aquaiicus. Not unfrequent throughout the 

 year by the sides of our rivulets. 



Common Gallinule or Water-hen, Gallinula chloropus* The 

 water-hen is a most generally diffused species. 



Coot, Bald Coot, Fulica atra. Not common here, except in the 

 lakes at Hardwick and Wynyard. 



Grey Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus. A rare species upon our 

 coast. The red phalarope of Bewick, ' Brit. Birds,' vol. ii. p. 139, 

 edit. 1804, is only this bird in its summer livery. It is included in 

 Sir C. Sharp's ' List of Hartlepool Birds.' The singularly scalloped 

 and broad membrane of. the feet renders the present genus closely 

 allied to the true web-footed birds (Palmipedes), or Natatores. 



Wild Swan, or Hooper, Qygnus ferus. This truly noble and ma- 

 jestic species visits our coast and salt-marshes in every hard winter. 

 Several were shot in February, 1838. They do not arrive much 

 before Christmas, but amongst my MSS. I find the following note : — 

 " Dec. 19th, 1829. — Many wild swans have already been seen both 

 by the Tees, and in Mordon Carrs." They have been noticed in their 

 migrations over an extensive range, from the extremity of Lapland to 

 the north of Africa, and the numerous seas or lakes of Asia. Many 

 authors have erroneously supposed that the tame swan, Anas Cygnus, 

 £. mansuetus of Linneus, is derived from the present bird. The do- 

 mestic swan, or mute swan, has an orange-red bill, a large black 

 tumour on its base, and twenty-four feathers in the tail, in which it 

 differs from the hooper, as also in not having the same shrill or loud 

 note. The two birds, however, are essentially distinct. The mute 

 swan is found wild in the countries adjacent to the Black Sea and to 

 the Caspian; and as Mr. Strickland says it visits the Bay of Smyrna, 

 in Asia Minor, it doubtless still frequents the rivers Caystrus and Mae- 

 ander, which, from the earliest times, were celebrated for that bird. 

 The swan, not only from its beauty, but likewise from being a water- 

 bird, was sacred to Venus as emblematic of her sea-born origin. The 

 hooper is also designated the musical, or whistling swan, from its pe- 

 culiar voice ; another swan is termed the trumpeter, but none as yet 

 is known to have any true power of singing, notwithstanding the mute 



