In January 1864 and again in the winter of 1869-70, several were shot at least there has be on for Whoopers as that of 1870-1, | with a heavy fe en no such seas quitted the neighbourhood altogether. 1 of snow on the 20th of December, but for the last twenty year able winter commencet ' foot deep on the level. The frost was so intense that the thermometer, and this lasted with but little abatement up to the 12th or st of the first fall of snow ; and, though in this county . when the hard weather of that memor ¢ day by day until it was over a increasin a few degrees above zero ; even by day, registered only A rapid thaw on the 14th cleared ated considerably up to the , to the first week in February. My first notice of ammond, that in the last week of December he and during the first week in 13th of January the ground of mo ; 28th, when the snow again fell heavily, e weather moder frosts continued at night, tl and the broads and smaller streams were thickly ice-bound uy Mr. Anthony H had seen a ‘herd at Horsey, near Yarmouth ; 7 ; “A j C “A P > IA; want January a flock of twenty-six were observed close in shore off Holme Point, near 1 the entrance to Heacham ereek. On the 12th several appeared Hunstanton ; and another lot of seven frequentec and on the same day, far inland, a considerable number were the town of Wymondham. As to the numbers actually procured in Norfolk lave no means of judging accurately, since by far the larger portion yearing at intervals in the Norwich Market. Mr. J. H. ived as many asa hundred Whoopers Wild Swans in that season was an intimation from ’ of forty passing along the coast on one occasion feeding off the Sherringham beach, passing along the coast ; both heard and seen passing over during February and the preceding month I} were sent up to London for sale, only some half-dozen ap] Gurney, jun., was informed by a dealer in Leadenhall Market that he had rece during the frost, chiefly from King’s Lynn; and one poulterer at Lynn stated he had had thirty. 1 Swans by no means confine themselves to the sea-coast, or even to the broads “As a rule, however, these Wil of our rivers, are almost sure to make their and streams in close vicinity, but, following the winding course favourite localities, even though farinland. Some forty years ago, as of the Yare which lies between Cringleford and and he appearance, during a prolonged frost, in certain the late Mr. Howlett, of Bowthorpe, informed me, that portion Colney was so much frequented by Wild Swans in hard winters as to be locall joining marshes were more frequently flooded, and thus adows about Earlham, Bowthorpe, and y termed the ‘ Swan River,’ once counted sixteen; but though in those days the ad afforded the most tempting feeding-grounds, yet to this day, the low me isum, all within three or four miles of Norwich, are a constant flock of seven took up their quarters in that particular part heir number shot, the survivors were remarked from A remarkably fine Whooper in the ighed twenty-six Colney, on the above river, and Costessey on the Wer resort of the Whooper. In the winter of 1870-71, a of the Yare; and though constantly disturbed, and two of t time to time, at different points of the stream, up to the end of February. £ Norwich Museum, which was killed at Bowthorpe in February 1830, and is said to have we f alone the ridge of the upper mandible, but had no black at the base. ie most marked external distinction between it and 1 being yellow and the extremity black, pounds, also measured four inches and a hal «The distribution of colour on the bill in this species forms tl the Mute or Tame Swan (Cygnus olor)—in the former the base of the bil in the latter the base black and the extremity flesh-coloured or reddish orange, according to age. ‘The internal differences exhibited by the Whooper in the convolutions of the trachea are also very marked, as shown by Yarrell in his anatomical illustrations ; but that these had not escaped the observation of Sir Thomas Brown is shown by his remark (when writing of the ‘ Elks’ or Wild Swans) that in them, ‘ and not in common swans, is remarkable that strange recurvation of the wind-pipe through the sternum; and the same is also noticeable in the Crane.’ The rufous tinge on the head and cheeks, in the Wild Swan as in our semidomesticated species, is noticeable more or less in most specimens ; and in a very fine bird, in the possession of Mr. F. Frere, of Yarmouth, shot on Breydon in February 1865, this ferruginous or orange-red upon the tips of the feathers extends likewise to the neck, and is more vivid than in any example I have seen.” “The siren sone of Seer trie we Qian : ; . : g the Swan,” says Swainson, “ before its death, which has been the theme of so much beautiful poetry, 1 ywe . . : : S a | : ry, is now well known to be fabulous; for the voice is only remarkable for its harshness. Wir. Selby opserve ¢ 1 . . ; F ; as ; . ; e \ ae s that it consists of two notes, and has not unaptly been compared to the discordant union of the modulation of > Cuck 1 : : \ f . : ; ae ( of the Cuckoo with the scream of the Gull, or the sound of the clarionet in the hands of a beginner. Some ever ll. neeer . . : . i , however, still assert that, when on the wing in large flocks or resting on the water, their united eries, becomine ; ; : : i. ee becoming softened by distance, are not unpleasant to the ear. ‘This,’ remarks Mr. Selby, can readily believe ; for : . 3 10 *r suc "Ire t+ tac ay , Y = . hg. + es ; for under such circumstances I have ever found that the incongruous sound from Gulls, Guillemots, < i : an s, and other tribes of sea-fowl (when collected ¢ » bree . ee, tae Wilting GF the rec sea-fowl Coe collected about the breeding ee ng of the breeze and the murmurs of the intervening water, reaches the it very dissimilar to that of a band of martial music.’ “The Wild Swan evi Swan evinces as great an apti » for icati i / ee Tae aptitude for domestication as the tame species. When caught ‘ CO » ‘ery ft: — - . é si een les very tame; and when provided with a spacious pi Ree, ceri ee ce a ce a spacious piece of water, naturally furnishec proper food, it will thrive equally well ; , It feeds upo 3 > : * : ‘ : n th ae > sii ig weer ee 3 ; ; a for procuring which its lone | e roots, stems, and leaves of aquatic plants, o neck, as j ret ip & ee ‘ n other birds of its own family, is absolutely necessary. When much more uprigl ; co . : ght than does the ec Swi 1 ittle of thé ed arch for which the latter is distinguished aeleeny, an — swimming, it carries its neck It walks al ‘| — alks also heavily < awkwardly, W - bei bs eee te! Sets vily and awkwardly, with the head lowered and The Wild Swan ; i Swan and its young und . ; ) iF undergo the Same chi reS as i rae | e changes as the tame Swan ; the structure of the nest, le number and colour of th . 2 : s e eggs are also simik Lhe principal figure in the Plat 5 c milar. e is about half the natural size.