CYGNUS FERUS.
Wild Swan or Whooper.

Anas cygnus, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 38.

Cygnus ferus, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds in Brit. Mus., pide
——— musicus, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iv. p. 830.

melanorhynchus, Wolf u. Meyer, Taschenb. Deutsch. Vég., tom. xi. 498.

 

——— olor, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom. xi. p. 211.
wanthorhinus, Naum, Vg. Deutschl., 1842, tom. xi. p. 478, tab. 296.
Olor musicus, Wagl. Isis, 1832, p. 1234.

 

 

Amone the MS. notes respecting this species which are now before me, I find one which states that,
during the winter months the Market of Leadenhall, in London, and that of Shanghai, in China, are
annually supplied with it—a fact which will at once inform the reader how extensively the Whooper is
distributed over the northern portions of the Old World. In whatever country a bird breeds, that country
must be regarded as its proper home; and hence the Whooper may claim for its native habitat all the
regions bordering the arctic circle of the Old World; or I may state, in other words, that Iceland (where
Professor Newton says it breeds in many places), Lapland, Finland (where Mr. Dresser informs me he
obtained eggs at Tja), Northern Russia, Siberia, China, and Japan are all tenanted by this noble species,
until the severities of winter impel it gradually to move southward to countries where the climate is
milder, and food obtainable. It is for the like reason that the British Islands and the countries of
continental Europe lying in similar degrees of latitude are frequently favoured with its presence during
the winter months ; its presence or absence, however, is very irregular, and apparently dependent on the
degree of cold prevailing in the far north. Mr. Tristram mentions that one was brought to him in the flesh
at Jerusalem, having been shot on the Pool of Solomon two or three days before, which he believes to be
the most southern locality yet quoted for the species.

The principal counties in England in which the Wild Swan rests are Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk ;
but if these be untenantable from the severity of the season, it resorts to others further south and west.
From all these counties, and also from Ireland, which it usually frequents at the same period, it beats a
retreat as early as the return of the sun has rendered its far northern homes suitable for its reception ;
and it has always been evident to me that the northern migrants to this country are as much influenced by
the movements of the great luminary as those which come from the south and summer with us.

No one, perhaps, has paid more attention to the arrival and departure of the Swan than Mr. Stevenson ;
I therefore do not hesitate about quoting some passages from the as yet unpublished volume of his valuable
‘ Birds of Norfolk,’ with which he has kindly favoured me.

The late Dr. Macgillivray, Professor Newton, and Mr. Stevenson term this bird Whooper instead of
Hooper, the latter gentleman remarking that the trivial

“name being derived from the peculiar trumpeting note of the species, I have preferred to spell it as in
whooping-cough, the word ‘ Hooper ’ having no special signification.

“Sir Thomas Brown, with his usual accuracy of observation, remarks of this species :—‘ In hard winters, Elks,
a kind of Wild Swan, are seen in no small numbers; if the winter be mild, they come no further southward than
Scotland ; if very hard, they go lower, and seek more southern places, which is the cause that, sometimes, we see
them not before Christmas or the hardest time in winter.’ This account agrees most accurately with our experience
of its habits at the present day, since (with the exception of one or two instances, in which the birds did not come
under my own observation) I have no record of Wild Swans killed before December, and then only through an
early commencement of frost and snow, the more usual time of their appearance extending from January to
March. So much, however, do their numbers depend upon the severity and duration of frosty weather, that a
record of severe winters will as surely furnish a list of great Swan-years.

“In 1854-55, a long and hard winter, when wild fowl of all kinds were extremely abundant, I saw upwards of
twenty Whoopers, that had been killed on our coast or inland waters, but all of them between January and March ;
and this was also the case in 1860-61, when a severe frost, lasting with little intermission from December to the
end of the following February, brought great numbers of Wild Swans and other fowl to our shores ; though, from
the broads and other inland waters being early frozen over, they were chiefly confined to the coast and salt
marshes, or passed on further to the south. The return of these fine birds in spring, on their passage northward,
is occasionally remarked, of which an instance occurred in the first week of March 1861, when, the weather at

the time being mild and open, a ‘herd’ of twelve were seen to alight early in the morning on the open water of ©

‘ Bargate,’ at the entrance to Surlingham Broad ; but, being disturbed, later in the day they again took wing and
gate, g y y ag g