THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
Young in first autumn-plumage. — Head brownish -grey; the upperparts 
white tinged with greyish; rest of the plumage white. Bill, from the bare 
forehead to the nostrils, pinkish -white; ridge mottled with pinkish - 
brown, yellowish along the middle, tips of both mandibles and edges of 
the upper, blackish ; feet and toes yellowish -white, with dark edges to the 
scales. 
Young in down. — White with a slight shade of dusky on the crown and 
upperparts; bill flesh-colour, edged with black; nail whitish; feet 
pinkish. 
General distribution. — ^The breeding-range of Bewick’s swan is more 
northerly and easterly than that of the whooper, and includes North 
Russia from the White Sea eastwards, Kolguev, Novaya Zemlia and 
Arctic Asia as far east as the delta of the Lena; from thence eastwards 
its place is taken by a larger, broader -billed form, which has been sep- 
arated under the name Cygnus jankowskii by Mr S. N. Alpheraky. In 
winter it migrates southwards to Western and Central Europe, the 
Caspian Sea, China and Japan. It is sometimes found in severe weather 
as far south as the Mediterranean, and appears to occur accidentally on 
the great lakes of Algeria. 
Distribution in the British Isles. — To the British Isles it is a regular winter- 
visitor. In Scotland, especially in the Outer Hebrides, it is sometimes very 
numerous; also in the north and west of Ireland, where it is far more 
abundant than the whooper, and sometimes seen in vast flocks. In Eng- 
land and Wales it is often met with during severe weather, but is 
distinctly rarer than the whooper. 
Nest and eggs. — ^The nest is like that of the whooper, but the eggs are 
somewhat smaller, the average measurements being 4*0 by 2*6 inches. 
Incubation probably lasts from five to six weeks, as in the allied species. 
The trachea is even more lengthened than in the whooper, and 
the loop extending laterally in a cavity in the keel of the sternum reaches 
nearly to the posterior extremity of that bone. The call is very different 
from that of the whooper, and resembles the syllable tong repeated several 
times. 
The food, general habits, etc., of Bewick’s swan are very similar to 
those of the whooper. The weight is about 13 lbs. 
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