ANATID/E. 417 



THE MUTE SWAN. 

 Cygnus olor (J. F. Gmelin). 



The Mute or Tame Swan is said to have been brought to England 

 from Cyprus by Richard I. ; but be this as it may, the species is 

 now generally distributed throughout the British Islands in a semi- 

 domesticated condition, and of late years it has even been introduced 

 in some of the Outer Hebrides, where it breeds, and the birds fly 

 about as if wild. There is a celebrated ancient swannery at Abbots- 

 bury, in Dorsetshire ; large numbers inhabit the streams and broads 

 of Norfolk ; and the presence of this handsome bird on the Thames 

 and other waters m.ust be familiar to every one. In Ireland it 

 maintains itself on lakes and rivers in many counties, and it has 

 been obtained as far west as Achill Island. 



The individuals which are occasionally shot during winter in 

 Britain are often assumed to be some of our home-bred birds which 

 have strayed from their usual haunts ; but such is not necessarily 

 the case, for the Mute Swan still breeds in a perfectly wild state at 

 no greater distance from us than Denmark and the south of Sweden, 

 whence it is forced by cold to migrate in winter ; while in a free 

 (as well as in a half-protected) condition it is found in many parts 

 of Germany, especially in East Prussia. Thoroughly wild birds nest 



K K 



