930 SWAN 



legal protection afforded to the Swan points out that it was not 

 indigenous to the British Islands, and indeed it is stated (though on 

 uncertain authority) to haA'^e been inti^oduced to England in the 

 reign of Richard Coeur de Lion ; but it is now so perfectly natural- 

 ized that birds having the full power of flight remain in the country. 

 There is no evidence to shew that its numbers are ever increased 

 by immigration from abroad, though it is known to breed as a wild 

 bird not further from our shores than the extreme south of Sweden 

 and possibly in Denmark, whence it may be traced, but with con- 

 siderable vacuities, in a south-easterly direction to the valley of the 

 Danube and the western part of Central Asia. In Europe, however, 

 no definite limits can be assigned for the natural range of the species, 

 since birds more or less reclaimed and at liberty consort with those 

 that are truly wild, and either induce them to settle in localities 

 beyond the boundary, or of themselves occupy such localities, so 

 that no diflference is observable between them and their untamed 

 brethren. From its breeding-grounds, whether the}' be in Turkestan, 

 south-eastern Europe or Scania, the Swan migrates southward 

 towards winter, and at that season may be found in north-western 

 India, in Egypt and on the shores af the Mediterranean. 



The Swan just spoken of is by some naturalists named the Mute 

 or Tame Swan, to distinguish it from one to be presently mentioned, 

 but it is the Swan simply of the English language and literature. 

 Scientifically it is usually known as Cygnus olor or C. mansuetus. It 

 needs little description : its large size, its spotless white plumage, 

 its red bill, surmounted by a black knob (technically the "berry") 

 larger in the male than in the female, its black legs and stately 

 appearance on the water are familiar, either from figures innumer- 

 able or from direct observation, to almost every one. When left to 

 itself its nest is a large mass of aquatic plants, often piled to the 

 height of a couple of feet and possibly some six feet in diameter. 

 In the midst of this is a hollow which contains the eggs, generally 

 from five to nine in number,' of a greyish-olive colour. The period 

 of incubation is between five and six weeks, and the young when 

 hatched are clothed in sooty-grey down, which is succeeded by 

 feathers of dark sooty-brown. This suit is gradually replaced by 

 white, but the young birds are more than a twelvemonth old before 

 they lose all trace of colouring and become wholly white.^ 



at Norwicli seems to be the only place now existing for fattening the Cygnets for 

 the table — an expensive process, but one fully appreciated by those who have shared 

 the result. The English Swan- laws and regulations have been concisely but 

 admirably treated by the late Serjeant Manning (Penny Cydopasdia, xxiii. pp. 

 271, 272), and the subject of Swan-marks, elucidated by unpublished materials 

 in the British Museum and other libraries, is one of which a compendious account, 

 from an antiquarian and historical point of view, would be very desirable. 



1 It was, however, noticed by Plot [N. H. Staffordshire, p. 228) 200 years 



