BEWICK’S SWAN. 
3 
been moored at slack tide to a strong post driven in the mud, when I mounted the river-hank to aseertain if any 
Snipe were about, and I was returning slowly when two Swans, evidently belonging to this speeics, were ohser\ed 
flying out from the inland marshes towards the coast. As soon as they came within range I was ready, and 
one dropped at once, falling about the middle of the river, and the other went off hard hit, giving signs of a 
fatal wound. On arriving at the river-bank I discovered that the tide was now sweeping down with considerable 
speed, and the bird was some hundred yards or so further down. Starting at once, I made the best of my way, 
hut the blocks of ice tumbling over and rolling down were a great drawback, and the Swan, flapping and 
swimming with repeated strokes of its powerful paddles, was making good headway. A shot fired cut a lot of 
feathers from the head and neck ; but the bird proceeded on with still greater speed, and the powder-flask* 
having been knocked from my hand by the force of a collision with an immense block of icc, fell into the 
water that the boat had taken in, and I w'as unable to fire another shot. The bird now rapidly increased the 
distance between us, and speedily flapped out of sight when the broken waves between the piers were reached. 
It was not an easy matter to reach the shore, but the difficulties were soon overcome ; it is, however, quite 
possible that had it not been for the assistance rendered by the crew of one of the vessels lying at the wharf, 
my boat would have been swept out to sea. 
While shooting a few Larks, one morning in January 1871, on the marshes near Shorehara harbour, in 
Sussex, a Bewick’s Swan making its way inland from the Channel flew close over my head ; having, however, 
only cartridges loaded with No. 10 shot, the charge had little or no effect. An hour before I had sent one of 
my boatmen into the village for some lunch and a supply of heavy cartridges ; hut unfortunately the latter were 
forgotten, and to this the bird owed its escape. 
During the winter of 1868 I was staying at Tain, in the east of Koss-shire, for the punt-gunning on the 
Dornoch Eirth ; while returning home from the Meikle Eerry on a cold night in the large double punt close 
to the south shore, we had a narrow escape of what might have proved a serious accident. I was working the 
boat slowly along myself, and the puntman was lying forward half asleep, resting on the stock ot the big gun 
which was trained ready for a shot. Just before we arrived off Worangie, and as soon as the darkness had 
commenced to set in, I detected a punt-gunner, conspicuous by his white jacket, rowing rapidly towards us. 
As our gun was pointing straight for his craft, 1 called to John the puntman, and ordered him to shift the 
barrel to one side. AVithout allowing me time to stop him, he put the hammer on full-cock and pulled the 
lanyard. Boused from his slumber, he imagined I had directed him to fire the gun at a Swan, in his half- 
stupified condition mistaking the white jacket of the puntman for one of these birds. Luckily the oakum 
with wJiich w-e had covered the cap to exclude the damp had clung round the hammer, and there was no 
explosion, or it would probably have gone hard with the punt-gunner from tlie Meikle Eerry, at whom he 
aimed, and who remained perfectly ignorant of what liad occurred. 
* This was in the old times when only muzzle-loaders were in use. 
