THE TAME, OR MUTE SWAN. 597 



THE BEKNICLE GOOSE (Bernicla leucopsis) is occasionally found on our coast. A speci- 

 men in the American Museum of Natural History, in Central Park, described by Mr. Lawrence, 

 came from the North Carolina coast. 



THE EMPEEOK GOOSE (Philacte canagica). This species is a handsome one, and inhabits 

 the northwest coast of North America. 



THE BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK (Dendrocygna autumnalis). This unfamiliar form 

 inhabits Central and South America, and Southwestern United States. It is a slender-bodied 

 bird, and seems to be at home on trees as well as elsewhere. 



Another species is Fulvous Tree Duck (D.fulva), which inhabits Central and South 

 America, and reaches north as far as Arizona and California. 



THE beautiful Swans now come before our notice. There are nine or ten species of these 

 fine birds, which are well represented in Europe. 



Our most familiar species is the TAME or MUTE SWAN, so called from its silent habits. 

 This elegant and graceful bird has long been partially domesticated throughout Europe, and 

 enjoys legal protection to a great extent ; heavy penalties being proclaimed against any 

 one who kills a Swan without a legal right. The Swan is presumed to be a royal bird, i.e. the 

 property of the Crown, and only to be possessed by a subject under a special grant. To each 

 license thus granted was attached a "swan mark," which was cut on the upper mandible 

 of the birds, in order to show the right of the owner. Swans of a certain age, not marked, 

 become Crown property, except in some instance where a grant conveys the right to seize and 

 keep any adult Swan which has not been marked. The "marks" are of endless variety, 

 partly heraldic, and contrived so as to pain the bird as little as possible. The present royal 

 mark consists of five diamonds, with rounded angles, tw r o cut longitudinally at the base of the 

 beak, and the other three transversely towards the tip. The mark granted to the University 

 of Oxford is a cross with equal arms, each arm being again crossed near its extremity, and 

 that of Cambridge is three buckles, one large in the middle of the beak, with the point towards 

 the head, and the other two smaller at the tip, with their tongues pointing in different 

 directions. 



The marking of the Swans is termed Swan-upping, a name which has been corrupted into 

 Swan-hopping, and is conducted with much ceremony. The technical term of the Swan-mark 

 is cigninota. Swan-upping, an old custom at European Courts, takes place in the month 

 of August, the first Monday in the month being set aside for the purpose, when the markers 

 of the Crown take count of all Swans in the river, and mark the clear-billed birds which have 

 reached maturity. The fishermen who protect the birds and aid them in nesting are 

 entitled to a fee for each young bird. The general mark is a notch on the one side of the beak. 



The food of the Swan consists mostly of vegetable substances, and the bird can be readily 

 fattened on barley, like ordinary poultry. The young birds, called cygnets, ought not to be 

 killed after November, as they then lose their fat, and the flesh becomes dark and tough. 

 Sometimes the Swan will feed upon animal food, and has been seen to catch and swallow 

 small fish, such as bleak and roach. In the spawning season the Swan is a terrible enemy 

 to the fish, haunting all the spawning-grounds, and swallowing the eggs till it can eat no 

 longer. The Swan will find out the spawn as it hangs on the submerged branches, and strip 

 them of their valuable load. They will follow the carp to their breeding-grounds, and swallow 

 their eggs by the quart, and in many cases they have almost entirely destroyed the fish which 

 inhabited the pond or stream in which they live. 



A good idea of the damage done to anglers by the Swan may be formed from a forcible 

 though unrefined description given by one of the piscatorial fraternity : "There never was no 

 manner of doubt about the dreadful mischief the Swans do. They eats tip the spawn of every 

 kind of fish till they have filled out their bags, and then on to shore they goes, to sleep off 

 their tuck out, and then at it again." At such times the birds are so greedy after their feast 

 that they can hardly be driven away, and will often show fight rather than leave the spot. 



