70 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



pear among the rushes and cat-tails in the lake, for even 

 before they are feathered they have that peculiar dull tint 

 of brown that blends with almost everything in nature. 

 This saves many a young swan from being caught by hawks 

 or coyotes. The coyote has a keen sense of smell but does 

 not locate his prey by this means alone. "When a young 

 swan is down wind from a coyote it can remain among the 

 rushes and be perfectly safe as long as it sits quietly. The 

 old swans do not have this danger, for no hawk is large 

 enough even to hope to kill a swan and a coyote must be 

 brave indeed to make the attempt. A swan's beak is ex- 

 ceedingly powerful, and, driven by the long neck, can 

 strike a powerful blow. More than that, the wings are so 

 strong that they are able to break the bones of even a 

 coyote if they strike him squarely. 



Dad Oswalt named his swan Lady Jane. Lady Jane 

 had been in her pen only a few days when Beaver, a six- 

 months-old pup discovered her whereabouts. Now Beaver 

 never stopped to question whether this young swan was 

 an intruder or not. It was merely something new, and 

 even tho it might belong to the master, surely it would 

 do no harm to have a little fun at its expense. Accordingly 

 he jumped into the pen and rushed on Lady Jane with 

 the full intent of frightening her out of her wits and having 

 great sport wallowing her and pulling her feathers, as he 

 had sometimes done with a chicken in the barn lot. Sev- 

 eral well administered lessons had taught him that chick- 

 ens were not to be bothered in this way, but no one had 

 said that he must not play with a swan. He would take 

 the chance, anyway. Grandmother saw him bound into 

 the pen, but kept out of sight and watched to see what 

 would happen. Lady Jane had not lived on an island and 



