414 
RARE BIRDS KILLED IK THE WINTER OF 1837 - 8 . 
been mottled, each feather having a large terminal pale spot. A curious particu¬ 
lar in which the Smew differs from the others, consists in the presence of only 
one small ccecum to the intestine, instead of two, proportionally much larger : 
this character I have found to be constant in nearly a dozen specimens. The 
Bay-breasted Merganser (M. serrator ) is less frequently brought to market than 
the large species, indeed in the proportion of one to six or seven ; but, as already 
stated, all three were plentiful during the severe weather of last winter. It is 
worth knowing, that the rich fulvous tint on the breasts of the two large Mer¬ 
gansers may be preserved, in all its beauty, by very carefully secluding the 
specimens from light for a period of two or three months, after which it is much 
less liable to fade from exposure; we rarely see a stuffed specimen which retains 
much of this depth of colouring. 
Wild Swans, of the Hooper species, have occurred in most parts of the country 
in very considerable numbers; and they have been cruelly and wantonly per¬ 
secuted. On their first arrival, they scarcely manifested distrust, but were at 
length rendered as timid as they had been fearless; though not till their numbers 
had been much reduced by insatiate butchering. In one place, on the Thames, 
I have information of a flock settling among a number of tame Swans,* and 
readily coming to feed on bread, &c., that was thrown to them ; it was conse¬ 
quently hoped that they would have been induced to remain in the locality ; but 
at the breaking up of the frost they all disappeared, after a sojourn of some 
weeks. At Manningtree, in Essex, however, a number appear to have taken up 
their abode, and it is expected will breed there. 
It is remarkable that no Bewick’s Swans occurred at the time of the long 
frost. Among the multitudes of wild Swans that were seen almost everywhere, 
and particularly in the eastern counties of England, this smaller species has been 
much sought for in vain; the endeavour to obtain it has indeed caused the 
destruction of very many Hoopers. A single young specimen appeared in one 
of the markets early in the season, and one young bird, and several adults, 
towards the close ; one specimen only was obtained the preceding winter, and 
this also very late in the season; so that Bewick’s Swan, I think, may be 
inferred to be a bird of passage, generally, rather than a winter sojourner, in the 
British Islands.t All the examples of it adverted to, passed into the hands of 
* Several wild Swans used to visit two tame individuals kept on the lake in Campsall Park, in 
the night-time. During the day we have seen several flocks pass over the same lake in majestic 
flight. Numbers of these birds have been indiscriminately shot wherever they could be met 
with; and we understand that during the stay of the Swans with us, more specimens of the 
Hooper Swan than of any other bird were sent to the various birdstuffers in the West-Riding 
of Yorkshire to be preserved. —Ed. 
f In the winter, I think, of 1832-3, or perhaps the following winter, I sau a very considerable 
