SWANS 229 



grown is still annually observed. In August 1895 

 I was permitted to take part in the ceremony, and 

 steered the Vintners' boat to Windsor. My account 

 of the proceedings, with notes historical and descrip- 

 tive, will be found in The Field, Sept. 28, 1895. 

 Some idea of the abundance of Swans on the Thames 

 may be inferred from the fact that in August 1897, 

 between London Bridge and Henley, the number 

 taken up was 481. Of these, 168 belonged to the 

 Queen, 181 to the Vintners' Company, and 132 

 to the Dyers' Company. The respective marks of 

 ownership are given in the "Encyclopaedia of 

 Sport," 1898, p. 419. 



Swans, it is said, pair for life, build a fresh nest 

 every year, and if left unmolested will frequent the 

 same locality. Stevenson states that young hen- 

 birds do not lay till their second year, some not until 

 the third or fourth, and commence by laying from 

 three to five eggs ; but the Swan-herd at Abbotsbury, 

 in 1878, after an experience of fifty years, declared 

 that they do not lay before their third year. The 

 period of incubation is about six weeks, or thirty- 

 nine days from laying the first e^^ on March 19 

 {Ibis, 1891, p. 185). The colour of the cygnets 

 is at first sooty grey above, which colour disap- 

 pears almost entirely after the second autumn, 

 and when two years old the birds become quite 

 white. 



In the so-called Polish Swan, Cygnus immuta- 

 hilis of Yarrell (PI. 27, fig. 9), the cygnets are 

 white from birth, a peculiarity which suggested the 



