alighted in the garden of the Vicarage at Weston-on-the-Green, on the
6th. of February, 1 8 3 8 . In Derbyshire docks occur on the Trent near
Melbourne, and other places at intervals in the winter. In the year
1 8 4 8 many were seen, and not a few killed, in ICent, near Gravesend;
others aNo near the Thames above London, beyond Richmond, in Surrey,
and near (!hertsey. Many occurred in Devon and (!ornwall in the
winter of 1 8 3 0 . In the autumn of 1 8 5 1 three appeared in Carrick
Roads, and two of them built on Swanpool in March, 18-JG, having
remained there till then.
In Norfolk they arc not unfrequent about the coast in winter, especially
in severe seasons. This remark indeed applies to the country generally.
Thus in the winters of 1 7 S 1 - 5 , 1 7 S S - 9 , 1 8 1 3 , 1 8 1 4 , 1819," 1 8 2 3 , and
1 8 2 9 , they were more than ordinarily numerous.
I n Scotland these Swans have been shot by the N i t h and t he Annan,
in Dumfriesshire, and in Selkirkshire. They also, as already mentioned,
arc numerous in Sutherlandshire, and occasionally seen in East Lothian.
In the Orkneys, some used, according to the Rev. G. Low, in his
Natural History of those Islands, to abide throughout the year, and
a few p a i n build on t h e Loch of Stenness, but in autumn large flocks
arrive from the north, and of these part remain all the winter, and
others cross over to Scotland—Sutherlandshire, Caithnesshire, Forfarshire,
and t he other northern counties, and thence penetrate according as
the season impels them, even to the southern shores of Sussex and
Hampshire.
In the Hebrides, Shetland, and the Faroe Islands, these birds also
have occurred.
I n Ireland they occasionally appear. Also in Wales, as on the
Conway River, in hard winters.
They migrate, according to the season, in March or April, and
October, northwards in the former months, and southwards in the
latter one.
They naturally frequent swamps and lakes, but, especially in winter,
such as a r e near the sea, a nd t he shore and the sea itself.
They appear not to be shy until they have been alarmed by being
shot at, and a re quite tameable. Mr. Yarrcll writes, speaking of some
which bred in the gardens of the Zoological Society, in the summer
of 1 S 3 9 , and again in 1842. ' A curious occurrence took place in
reference to the brood of 1 8 3 9 . The Cygnets, when only a few days
old. were sunning themselves on tin- margin of one of the islands,
close to the deep water. The parent birds were swimming near. A
Carrion Crow made a descent, and struck at one of the Cygnets, the
old male Hooper came to the rescue in an instant, seized the Crow
HOOPER. 1 21
with his beak, pulled him into the water, and, in spite of all his
huffetings and resistance, held him there till he was dead.'
I n the severe winter of 1838, several Swans were found dead in
Orkney, apparently from the extreme cold.
Great numbers of these birds arc killed in Iceland for the sake of
the down and feathers, so very valuable in an Arctic climate. They
are ridden and run down with horses and dogs in the autumn, when,
being moulting, they are not so wrell able to fly.
The following account, given in the 'Zoologist,' volume vi., pages
2024-5-6, by Miss Ellen Weblcy Parry, shews how even a bird, whose
very name means wild or savage, may be tamed in the most perfect
manner by kindness:—'The winter of 1829-30 was remarkably severe,
and especially so for South Wales, where the climate is generally mild
and humid. There had been numerous flocks of AVild Geese and other
northern birds, including the Hooper, or Wild Swan, on the River
Tivy and its tributary streams. A pair of these birds were shot and
secured by the Rev. Samuel B. ShirefF, of Stradmoor, Cardiganshire,
whose residence was on the banks of that river. The male bird was
merely wounded in the pinion, the female unfortunately too severely so
to survive. Mr. Shireff presented the other to my father, the late
Rear-Admiral Webley Parry, of Noyadd Trefann, in the same county,
in the hope that he might be sufficiently tamed to put on a piece of
ornamental water near the house.
The extreme wildness and fierceness of this bird, if approached, was
remarkable, flying at every person who came near his domicile. We
placed him in a small yard, with an open shed for him to retire to.
I t was many days before we could induce him to eat anything; as
we were qiute ignorant of his natural food we feared he would be
starved to death, but fortunately he began to eat sea-biscuit soaked in
water, which he continued to live upon for some months. After being
kept in this place for more than two months, and being, as we thought,
tolerably tame, we put him on the piece of water before named; but
no sooner was he on his native element, than all his natural wildness
seemed to return: he made his way down to a stream which ran into
the Tivy, on which river he was caught, making his way towards the
sea, and brought back again.
Shortly after this, an accident happening to the embankment, the
piece of water became dry, and ' D a n , ' as he was called, was brought
up to the house, and h ad to content himself in the circumscribed limits
of the stable and poultry yards, together with the farm-yard pond.
From the number of people constantly passing and repassing there,
and his long sojourn, he became excessively tame, went to bed with
VOL. v. R