652 CYGNUS. SWAN. 



obtain it while swimming. It consists of soft grass, seeds, 

 and especially the roots and stems of grasses and other 

 plants, which they pull up from the mud, immersing their 

 long necks for the purpose, elevating the hind part of the 

 body, and maintaining their position by means of their feet, 

 in the same manner as the Geese and graminivorous Ducks. 

 Like the former, they utter a hissing sound when irritated, 

 and strike with their wings. They float rather lightly, swim 

 with considerable speed, but are incapable of diving. In 

 swimming they sometimes keep the neck erect, like the 

 Geese, and sometimes curved, like the Ducks. Their flight 

 is direct, strong, rapid, with short undulating movements of 

 their outstretched wings, the neck extended to its full 

 length. During their migrations they usually fly at a vast 

 height, in files or angular lines, the individual at the head 

 of the string retiring to the rear after a time. Their cries 

 are loud, trumpet-like, and, w r hen proceeding from a dis- 

 tance, clear, mellow, and resembling the sounds from a 

 distant band of music. They are described as having a 

 peculiarly exciting effect on the human mind, especially in 

 desert regions, and to give rise to the most agreeable feelings 

 in those who depend chiefly upon the chase for their sub- 

 sistence. This I can well understand, having experienced 

 the like on seeing and hearing a flock of Wild Swans in 

 the Hebrides. They are at all seasons gregarious. The 

 nest, very bulky, and composed of grass and herbage, with 

 fragments of turf, peat, or other light substances, is placed 

 on the ground, in marshes or on islands. The eggs, ellip- 

 tical, and generally of a greenish-grey tint, are not very 

 numerous. The male remains with the female and young, 

 and after the breeding season the families unite into flocks. 

 The Swans moult only once in the year, in the end of 

 summer. The sexes are coloured alike ; the young at first 

 grey ; the males larger than the females. Their flesh, as an 

 article of food, is similar to that of the Geese, but is not 

 now held in much esteem, although that of young indi- 

 viduals is tender and sapid, having a peculiar rich flavour. 



The Common Tame Swan, Cygnus Olor, is admitted by 

 Mr. Yarrell into the series of British Birds ; but, as there 



