422 
LIST OP NORFOLK BIRDS. 
264. !Mute Swan {Cygnus olor). 
Tliis bird is now admitted to exist in a perfectly wild state in 
eastern Europe, and should it stray to England, the Norfolk coast 
Avould be j)articularly likely to attract any such wanderers. In a 
seini-doinesticated state they are to be found on nearly all the 
Eroads and Eivers of Norfolk, particularly on the Yare, and from 
the perfect liberty they enjoy, and the abundance of food, are very 
prolific. In 1881, a pair at IvesAvick brought off twelve Cygnets, 
eleven of which were reared ; and a pair of birds on Surliugham 
Broad, in eight years, produced eighty-five eggs, from Avhich they 
reared eighty-two Cygnets. At St. Helen’s Hospital in Norwich 
there has for very many years existed a Swan-pit, in which large 
numbers of Cygnets from the neighbouring rivers and broads are 
annually collected for the purpose of fattening for the table. 
They are taken up in the second week in August, at Avhich 
time one hundred or more Cygnets are frequently to be seen there. 
The late Governor of St. Helen’s Hospital, Avho for more than 
thirty-five years had charge of the Swan-pit, assured me that during 
the Avhole of that time he had never seen a white Cygnet. — S. 
265. Polish Swan {Cygnus immutabilis). 
Since I first met with this Swan, at Lynn, in 1851, it has 
occurred many times in this county. I have stated my reasons for 
believing it to bo a good species in the Trans. Norfolk and 
Norwich Nat. Soc. (vol. ii. p. 258 et seq.) — S. 
266. Sheldrake {Tadorna cornuta). 
A few still breed every year in three or four favourite localities 
on our Avest and north-Avest coast. These presumably go south in 
autumn, and those Avhich are shot in Avinter are migrants from 
Scandinavia, and such as are seen in March are more likely on their 
Avay to Scotland and the north than to be our native birds returning 
to Norfolk. Doubtless the Sheldrake Avas once much commoner: 
Hunt alludes to it as one of the most plentiful of its genus 
(Stacy’s ‘ History of Norfolk,’ vol. i. p. 62). The llev. William 
Whitear (joint author Avith the Ilev. 11. Sheppard of the ‘ List of 
Norfolk and Suffolk Birds’) in his diary (noAV in the possession 
of his daughter. Miss Whitear) under date of IMay 26tb, 
1818, speaking of the Winterton, states that “the Sheldrake, 
Avhich breeds there in the rabbit burrows, is not found there in the 
