﻿BEWICKS SWAN. 65 



nostril, which is not the case with the hooper ; in that bird 

 the nostril itself is the line of demarcation between the black 

 and yellow portions ; the one colour occupying the lower, 

 the other the upper side. 



We have also noticed authors to speak of the great 

 diversity in the weight of the hooper, even among those 

 killed from the same party, which induces us to believe that 

 the hoopers and the Bewick's Swan associate occasionally in 

 the same flock. 



The present species is probably an inhabitant of the 

 north-eastern parts of Europe and Asia, and the islands 

 of the Arctic Ocean ; it is said to be plentifully distributed 

 over Siberia, and in North America equally so. 



We have reason to believe that this is the swan that 

 inhabits Iceland, where there is only one species known. 

 It there frequents the bogs and swamps on the borders of 

 lakes in the most unfrequented mountainous parts of that 

 island, during the summer ; from whence it migrates south- 

 ward, to pass the winter in the vicinity of the warm springs, 

 and during very severe weather it extends its journey still 

 farther towards the south. The autumnal migration com- 

 mences in October, and the return in the spring in the 

 month of March, the birds arriving already paired at their 

 breeding-places early in April ; these journeys are performed 

 during both night and day. When the present species 

 alights on a large pond or lake, it almost immediately seeks 

 the shore, in order to wade among the boggy, shallow parts, 

 where it is enabled to reach the bottom with its beak, in 

 order to obtain its food. This principally consists in roots, 

 stalks and leaves of aquatic plants, the larvse of insects, and 

 worms. 



It appears that the manner of breeding in this species 

 differs in no way from that of others of its family, for in 



