Natural History of Ireland. 465 



of this species, in mature plumage, but could not learn any parti- 

 culars of its capture. January 5, 1836. William Sinclaire, Esq. 

 informs me, that he heard of two " strings" of wild swans, consisting 

 of twenty-eight birds, having been seen yesterday at the bog-meadows, 

 near Belfast ; and that he to-day saw a string of nineteen, flying with 

 extreme slowness, from the direction of Belfast Bay, to the same 

 place : from their call, though somewhat hoarser, being like that 

 of the individuals in Mr Sinclaire's possession ; and from their ap- 

 parent similarity in size, he was fully satisfied that they were the 

 Cygnus Bewickii. 



Dublin, February 5, 1836. In a letter to me of this date, Ro- 

 bert Ball, Esq. mentions having recently got three specimens of 

 Cygnus Bewickii ; two of which were shot in the county Fermanagh, 

 and a third he bought in Dublin market ; along with the last, there 

 was another exposed for sale, but he could not ascertain where they 

 were killed. 



March 17, 1836. I examined a specimen of Cygnus Bewickii, 

 which was shot at Lough Beg, adjoining Lough Neagh, on the 12th 

 instant. Its length is 3 feet 9 in. ; tail feathers 20 ; knob in bill 

 very small ; feathers on forehead deep rust colour ; on sides of head 

 tinged with pale rust-colour at their extremities ; tips of feathers 

 on breast and entire under surface of belly of a rust-colour, so ex- 

 tremely pale, as to have the appearance merely of being soiled ; bill 

 pale orange on the ridge, as far as nostrils : on the sides, this colour 

 advancing a little farther, thence to tip black. On dissection, it 

 proved a female. Its stomach was filled with minute seeds and gra- 

 vel. As I have, during the last two months, heard of flocks of wild 

 swans being frequently seen on Lough Neagh, there is little doubt 

 that they have been there since first observed in January, and that 

 they will most probably remain until the period of their vernal mi- 

 gration. The five remaining birds of the flock, out of which Mr 

 Sinclaire's specimens were obtained in 1830, went off in the direc- 

 tion of Lough Neagh, and a similar number, presumed to be the 

 same individuals, were a few days afterwards seen in the flooded 

 meadows, where they had been fired at. This is mentioned, simply 

 to show their continuance in the neighbourhood. 



Although the Cygnus Bewickii is considered to visit England 

 less commonly than the Cygnus ferus, it is certainly of more fre- 

 quent occurrence than this species in Ireland. 



