A2 THE MUTE SWAN. 
The first occurrence of this species, of which I have a record, 
was near Peshawer, in 1857, when a small flock were seen, and 
one shot and placed in the Peshawer Museum, whence it was 
sent to me by Sir F. Pollock in, I think, 1867. 
This Swan was shot by W. Mahomed Oomer Khan, who 
wrote to me about it as follows :— 
“In the month of January 1857, I shot this Swan in the 
Peshawer District on the Shah Alum River, about a mile and a 
half on this side of the Kabul River. Neither before nor after have 
I seen other Swans, but a few years after I killed it, I heard 
from the shikaris of Hashtnagar (also in the Peshawer Dis- 
trict) that they had recently seen five of these birds in the 
Agra (?) village lake, in this same district, but had failed to shoot 
any.’ 
The specimen had been so entirely ruined by exposure and 
insects that I could not, at the time, decide positively to which 
species it belonged, but from what remains of the bill and head 
I have since satisfied myself that it was C. olor. 
In 1871 Captain Unwin, of the 5th Goorkhas, sent me the 
skins of a pair of young Swans of this species with the follow- 
ing extract from his diary, under date 17th January 1871 :— 
“ To-day, while Duck-shooting on the Jubbee Stream, on the 
border of the Hazara and Rawal Pindi Districts, during a 
short halt for breakfast on the banks of the nullah, I was 
attracted by seeing two large white birds flying over the stream 
some 250 yards lower down. The Jubbee has here a wide 
stony bed, with a small stream in the centre, forming occasional 
pools, in one of which the birds seemed inclined to alight. 
Changing their intention, however, they came flying up, and 
passed me at a distance of about 60 yards ; to my surprise and 
delight I recognised in them most undoubted wild Swans. Firing 
with loose shot at that distance was useless, so I watched in the 
hope that they would settle in some of the pools higher up the 
stream, and thereby afford a stalk, but they continued their 
slow, heavy, flight until I lost sight of them in the distance. 
“ Concluding that they would not stop until they reached the 
Indus, some 20 miles off, I was returning to my breakfast, a 
sadder and a wiser man, when, in taking a last look in their 
direction, I saw them returning. I hastily got into the centre 
of the nullah, in their line of flight, and as they rose slightly, to 
avoid me, fired both barrels, No. 3 shot, at the leader. She 
(for it proved to be the female) staggered, but went on, slowly 
sinking, till she settled in a large pool, about 400 yards off, 
accompanied by her mate, which alighted close beside her. 
“The pool, being commanded by a high bank, offered an 
easy stalk, and getting round into a favorable position, I 
found the Swans within 20 yards of me. A crowd of Gadwall 
(C. streperus), which was close by, took flight on seeing me, but 
the male Swan stuck nobly by his mate, and paid dearly for his 
