72 INDIAN SPOETING BIRDS 



the fact that they have laid eggs when kept in captivity in such 

 an unnatural climate as that of Calcutta, it is just possible that 

 they may yet be found breeding somewhere in India, especially 

 in exceptionally cool seasons. Most people know what a swan's 

 nest is like — a huge pile of any vegetable matter the birds can 

 get hold of, placed close to the water's edge, and, if possible, on 

 an islet. But as the birds, to put it mildly, do not encourage 

 examination of the nest when without fear of man, it maj^ be as 

 well to mention that the eggs are about four inches long, pale 

 sage-green in colour, and number about half a dozen. The 

 cygnets are grey normally, but now and then white ones occur ; 

 and these are white even in their first feathering, and have pale 

 clay-coloured or flesh-coloured feet all their lives instead of the 

 usual black or grey. Such birds used to be distinguished as a 

 species, the so-called Polish swan {Cygnus immutabilis). 



The food of these swans consists of water-weeds and grass, 

 with some animal matter, especially fish-spawn ; in domestication 

 they eat grain freely, but do not come ashore to seek it in the 

 wild state apparently. In fact they do not come ashore much 

 except to rest, generally grazing from the water, where grass on 

 the banks is accessible ; nor, though they stand on their heads 

 to reach the bottom, do they ordinarily dive ; though I once saw 

 a small cygnet do so for about a couple of yards when attacked 

 by a vicious black swan. This Australian bird, by the way, is 

 more freely imported into India than the mute swan, and both 

 species have been known to escape ; so that records, especially if 

 of old birds, and away from the North-west, are not free from 

 suspicion. The birds rise heavily and slowly, but fly fast, though 

 with slow strokes, and, in spite of their awkward gait, a wounded 

 bird has been known to run fast in hundred-yard spurts before 

 hunted down. 



This species is well called the mute swan, for though not 

 actually voiceless, it is far more silent than other species, and its 

 note, a grunt or a sort of suppressed bark, is not loud. It is one 

 of the largest of flying birds, attaining a weight of tbirty pounds ; 

 though the birds occurring here are not likely to weigh more 

 than half that. 



