Off 
BEWICK’S SWAN, 
i Gygnm Bewichii. 
PLATE IL* Fig. 4. 
A distinct species of Swan only began to attract 
attention about tbe years 1827 or 28, although one 
or two Ornithologists had previously examined spe- 
cimens and pointed out distinctions. Soon after, its 
dedication, to hand down to posterity the Ornitho- 
logist of Newcastle, was by common consent recog- 
nised. Specimens have since been procured in 
several districts of England, Scotland and Ireland, 
but it is by no means common. A good many 
swans occurred last winter in the Edinburgh markets, 
where we were on the outlook for any thing re- 
markable, but they were all birds of the preceding 
species, and it may be considered as a much rarer 
bird. On the continent it has also been sparingly 
obtained, but nearly the same proportional disparity 
of numbers occur there, while its range over Europe 
or beyond that boundary is comparatively unknown. 
M. Temminck states that it breeds in Iceland. 
The adult plumage is white after passing through 
the changes of dull brown, as we saw in the last. 
The head and neck are also generally streaked with 
rufous. But it is easily distinguished by its lesser 
