593 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



We mention this because of its importance 

 in connection with such methods of fattening. 

 The system has been profitable to the smaller 

 breeders of Rhode Island, who sell their goslings 

 to the feeders ; but such losses must put an end 

 to it in that form unless a sure remedy be found. 

 All British experience goes to show that geese 

 do best either at large on stubbles or roots, or 

 else in small quiet yards, without too much light 

 or exposure, and do not thrive well in very 

 large pens of several hundreds. We have already 

 alluded to the desirability of only penning 

 together the number which can probably be 

 killed and marketed together ; a consideration 

 which tends in the same direction, and moreover 

 enables more systematic care to be given to 

 bedding and cleanliness. To shortcoming in 

 these respects such outbreaks may probably be 

 due, and it is likely that restriction of the number 

 in one pen to fifty or less, may prove more of a 

 cure than any direct measures. 



We have never heard of any similar out- 

 break in England ; but amongst those reared 

 for exhibition a very peculiar affection of 

 the floor of the mouth is sometimes found, 

 called by some breeders " dropped tongue " or 

 "fallen tongue." We take the description of it 

 from a note by Mr. D. Bragg, in an article con- 

 tributed by Mr. Edward Brown to the Journal 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1899. The 

 skin is or becomes so lax under the lower 

 mandible, that the tongue sinks down into the 

 hollow, and the bird is, consequently, unable 

 to swallow. The remedy is simple, resembling 

 that for enlarged crop described in the next 

 chapter. The outer skin below the mandible is 

 pinched up and pulled down, separately from 

 the floor of the mouth, and a strip about an inch 

 wide entirely cut out. The edges are then sewn 

 together, taking up the slack, and the difficulty 

 is at an end. While this deformity is less pre- 

 valent in Embden geese, the Toulouse, which 

 have heaviest dewlaps, are also said to be less 

 subject to it than smaller guUeted birds. We 

 believe that the real origin of the malformation 

 lies in the mixture of blood already referred 

 to, and to a sort of consequent struggle for 

 mastery between the two types of throat ; but 

 as it is practically confined to exhibition 

 specimens, it is no doubt stimulated by forcing 

 diet, or any other cause leading to a relaxed 

 state of the tissues. 



SWANS. 



The true swans are the largest of water-fowl, 

 though the family, which comprises seven or 

 eight known varieties, has one or two members 

 smaller than an ordinary goose, and possessing 



characters apparently midway between the 

 geese and the ducks. Their general obvious 

 characteristics are a rather long body carried 

 horizontally, short legs, and very long, slender 

 necks, with long, snake-like heads. The wild 

 birds fly in flocks, in the V-shaped phalanx 

 common to all the larger waterfowl, and when 

 fairly on the wing fly strongly, and sometimes 

 at a height of several thousand feet ; but they 

 seem to rise with some difficulty. They usually 

 take flight from the water, and splash along for 

 twenty or thirty yards till they have gathered 

 " way " enough ; and they descend in the same 

 way. They are more or less migratory, like the 

 ducks and geese; though often remaining in 

 one locality that suits them. They are strictly 

 monogamous as a rule, though one or two rare 

 cases of two females mating with one male are 

 reported on credible authority; and usually pair 

 for life, which may amount to as much as a hun- 

 dred years if no accident happens. As usual when 

 such is the case, the two birds cherish the deepest 

 afi"ection for each other, always swimming close 

 together, frequently caressing their mates about 

 the head and neck, and, if necessary, fighting for 

 one another with the greatest courage. They 

 fight with their wings like geese, and strike with 

 fearful force. They feed chiefly on vegetables, 

 including the roots and stems of grasses and 

 plants which they pull up from the mud, stretch- 

 ing deep down with their long necks, but never 

 diving. They will, however, also graze to some 

 extent on land, and it is believed eat also fish- 

 spawn and animalculae ; probably they also eat 

 very small or young fish occasionally. 



The male swan is called a " cob," the female 

 a " pen," and the young ones " cygnets." Both 

 parents help to make the nest, which when at 

 large is a very big affair, built up with sticks and 

 rushes and coarse grass outside, and lined with 

 fine grass and down. In this six to nine eggs 

 are laid, which are of course large, and ver>' 

 thick in the shell, of a dirty white or pale 

 green colour. The time of incubation varies 

 somewhat, from 35 to 40 days. The young are 

 densely covered with down, taken to the water 

 by the parents almost immediately, and watched 

 over with the greatest solicitude, more than four 

 or five being rarely hatched out of one nest. 

 The first year the plumage of the ordinary or 

 mule swan is grey, and the bills blackish-grey 

 instead of orange. The flesh of young birds is ■ 

 very tender, and resembling that of the goose, 

 but not quite so rich ; and as swans hatched and 

 brought up under geese are much more domestic 

 in their habits, it was at one time thought pos- 

 sible that cygnet-rearing for market might prove 

 remunerative ; but the decrease in the demand foT 



