T he J I o o p e r , so called on account of the peculiar note
uttered by this bird, is a winter visiter to the British Islands,
even to the southern parts, arriving in flocks, sometimes as
late as Christmas, and are generally more numerous as the
weather becomes more' severe. The Rev. Mr, Low, in his
natural history of-Orkney and Shetland, says, “ The Wild
Swan is found at all seasons in Orkney; a few pairs build in
the holms of the loch of Stenfiéss; ; These* höwever, are
nothing to the flocks that visit us in October from the more
northern climates, their summer retreats. Part of these continue
with us all winter, and the rest go to Caithness and the
other northern shires of Scotland ; in April they go off“ again
to the northward, except the few which remain heië: for the
summer. "Like the wild geese, these birds fly in thé fashion
of a wedge, making a fine melodious clang, which has*;perhaps,
furnished one occasion to give, a musical voice to this
bird.” Mr. Donn, the botanist, says a feW^visit thedakes of
Forfarshire. In December various flocks are seen -flying in
compact bodies, directing their course southward, particularly
along the coast lines, and many specimens are stöjbe seen in
the London markets, which are sometimes supplied to profusion.
Many reach- the je a on -our southern “cè^sfl,;' The late
lamented Earl of Malmesbury sent me, in the spring of the
year 1888, a list of four hundred and sixteen wild fowl,
killed at Heron JCourt during the frost of* the previous January
and February, namely, from January the 9th to February
the 24th. This list included thirty-three Hoopers, And
Colonel Hawker ^describes with his usual skill the many successful
shots he had made at swans, when wild-tbwl shooting
between Lymington and Poole harbour; “ the Hoopers, before
they have been shot at, are easier of access than many
other wild birds; and if, when flying, they-are fired at directly
under the hollow of the wing, or, when swimming,
through the head, they may be stopped at a reasonable distance,
with a common double gun and small shot; perhaps
even farther than other, swild fowl, as, when struck in the
body, they become helpless from their weight, and their
heads are lessi likely to escape^between the shot than those of
smaller fowl, No birds vary more in »weight than Hoopers*
In the last wintered.888, I killed- them from thirteen to
twenty-one -pounds. On one occasion A knocked down eight
at a shot, seven old ones and a brown one, and they averaged
nineteen pounds each. The old gander was only winged;
and when he found himself, overtaken by my man, Read, he
turned- round and made a regular charge at him.”
These birds visit Holland, France, Provence, and Italy ;
and M r.. Bennett says they sometimes go as far south as
Egypt and Barbary.
Linnaeus saw wild swans several times during his tour in
Lapland, and mentions that at the residence of the governor
of the province at Calix,- he .saw three, which having been
taken when young, were as tame as domestic geese< ;
, Mr. Dann, in his note to me pf this bird, says:—“ The
Wild Swan appears in Lapland with the first breaking up of
the ice, and is the earliest of all the Anatidas in its return
north, They frequent the most, secluded and uninhabited
swamps and lakes in the wooded districts, and are found only
in scattered pairs south of Juckasiervi.; thence in a northeastern'
direction they are reported to be very numerous, but
J did not fall in with any during my stay, in Lapland.”
Bechstein says that in Russia the Hooper is more frequently
domesticated than the Mute Swan. A pinioned
female, in the possession df Montagu, laid an egg. Several
years ago I had an opportunity of seeing ten or twelve
Hoppers in a stable in London. These fine; birds had been
procured by Mr. Cast'ang, the well known dealer in birds for
the late Earl of Egremont, and the swans were shortly afterwards
sent to Petworth, where, it was said, they afterwards
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