368 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



mostly frequent the sea coast. The Cygnets are esteemed 

 a delicate dish, and the full grown young are also excel- 

 lent food. The aborigines of the interior make much use 

 of the down of the Swan as a matter of decoration, in 

 which taste they have also been very successfully followed 

 by civilized nations. Among the Icelanders they are an 

 object of chase, in the moulting season, which takes place 

 in August, after rearing their young ; they are pursued by 

 dogs, and on horseback, the animals being purposely trained 

 to pass nimbly over bogs and marshes. The eggs, in the 

 spring, as well as the flesh in autumn, are there much used 

 as food, and the feathers form an article of trade. In Kam- 

 tschatka, where they likewise abound and breed, they are 

 taken and used in the same manner. They nest on the 

 ground in the rank herbage near the water ; laying 5 to 

 7 olivaceous-green eggs, appearing as if covered with a 

 whitish incrustation. Their food consists of aquatic plants 

 and insects. 



The Whistling Swan, though commonly tamed and do- 

 mesticated in Russia, has not the grace and elegance of 

 the Mute species, as instead of the beautiful curve of the 

 neck, it swims with it erect. Its vocal organs are also 

 remarkably assisted by the elaborate structure of the tra- 

 chea, which instead of passing on direct to the lungs, as in 

 the Mute Swan, forms two circumvolutions within the 

 chest, like a real trumpet, before terminating in the respira- 

 tory organ, and it is thus enabled to utter a powerful and 

 sonorous note. The common Tame Swan, on the contrary, 

 is the most silent of birds ; being unable to utter any louder 

 noise than a hiss. This deficiency of voice is, however, 

 amply made up by beauty of form, and insinuating grace. 

 Its pure, spotless, and splendid attire ; its stately attitude ; 

 the ease and elegance, with which, like a bark, it sits and 

 moves majestically on the water, as if proud and conscious 



