THE SWAN loi 



attitude is full of feeling, in every movement is nobility : 

 an ever-changing play of graceful lines, as though he 

 knew that the very stream tarried to contemplate his 

 beauty." 



But his splendour is not without alloy. It is marred 

 by the tiny, black, beady eye, which gives the bird an 

 evil-tempered, sinister expression. This expression is 

 in keeping with the character of the swan. Cygnus 

 is a bully. He delights to tyrannise over the ducks 

 who so often keep him company in captivity. The 

 domineering behaviour of an old swan that used to 

 live in the Zoological Gardens at Lahore was amusing 

 to watch. The water-fowl are fed twice daily, the food 

 being placed in a series of dishes so that all can eat 

 at once. The swan used to appropriate the first dish 

 to be filled, and no duck or goose durst approach that 

 dish. Having taken the edge off his appetite, the 

 swan would waddle to the next plate, and drive away 

 the ducks that were eating out of it. He would then 

 pass on to dish number three, and so on all along the 

 line, his idea being, apparently, to cause the maximum 

 of annoyance to his neighbours with the minimum of 

 trouble to himself. There were great rejoicings among 

 the ducks when that old swan died. 



An angry swan is capable of inflicting a nasty blow 

 with its powerful wings. It is said to be able to use 

 these with such force as to break a man's arm. Mr. 

 Kay Robinson denies this, and declares that the wing 

 of a swan is not a formidable weapon. Personally, I 

 always give the wing the benefit of the doubt and an 

 angry swan a wide berth. 



