598 
BEWICK’S SWAN. 
The nest of the Swan is a very large mass of reeds, rushes, and grasses set upon the bank, 
close to the water, in some sheltered spot. Generally the bird prefers the shore of a little 
island as a resting-place for its nest. Like other water-birds, the Swan will raise the nest by 
adding fresh material before the rising of the water near which it is placed. There are 
generally six or seven eggs ; large, and of a dull greenish-white. The young are of a light 
bluish-gray color, and do not assume the beautiful white plumage until maturity. The mother 
is very watchful over her nest and young, and in company with her mate assaults any intruder 
upon the premises. Luring the first period of their life the young Swans mount on their 
mother’s back, and are thus carried from one place to another. If in the water, the Swan is 
able to sink herself so low that the young can scramble upon her back out of the water, and if 
on land she helps them up by means of one leg. 
The Hoopee, Elk Swan, or Whistling Swan, may at once be distinguished from the 
preceding species by the shape and color of the beak, which is slender, without the black 
tubercle, and is black at the tip and yellow at the base, the latter color stretching as far as 
the eye. 
The name of Hooper is given to this bird because its cry resembles the word “hoop ” very 
loudly uttered, and repeated many times successively. The bird arrives in Europe in the 
winter, mostly in little bands. At the northern islands a few Hoopers remain throughout the 
year, and large 
flocks make their 
appearance about 
October, departing 
for the north in 
April. On the wing 
these birds generally 
fly in the form of 
a wedge, and cry 
loudly as they go. 
The curious sound 
is produced by 
means of the forma- 
tion of the wind- 
pipe, which is very 
long, doubled upon 
itself, and traverses 
nearly the entire 
length of the breast- 
bone, which is hol- 
lowed to receive it. 
The length of wind- 
pipe depends on sex 
and age, the adult 
males exhibiting this 
curious structure in the greatest perfection. In the Mute Swan the windpipe is short, and 
does not enter the breastbone at all. 
The nest of the Hooper is like that of the Mute Swan, and the eggs are pale brownish- 
white. The length of the Hooper is about the same as that of the mute species, i. e., 
five feet. 
Bewick’s Swan, another European species, resembles the hooper in many respects, but 
may be distinguished from that bird by its smaller size, the large patch of orange at the base 
of the beak, and the structure of the windpipe and breastbone, which are found in the same 
place as those of the hooper, but with considerable modification. This is not nearly so graceful 
