172 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



brood, and have been known to take the young birds upon their 

 backs, after the manner of some species of grebes. 



When several pairs of swans nest in close proximity to one 

 another, each pair keeps carefully to the limits of some well- 

 understood range. The parents associate with the young through- 

 out the winter, but drive them away in the spring. These sw^ans, 

 like all others, feed chiefly upon w^ater-plants, roots, leaves and 

 seeds, insects, and the organic material which collects at the bot- 

 tom of ponds. They also occasionally catch and devour small 

 fish and crabs, as well as mollusks, when feeding along the coast. 



Of the Mute Swan, Bewick quaintly but veraciously writes : 

 " At the setting in of frosty weather the Wild Swans are said to 

 associate in large flocks, and thus united, to use every efl^ort to 

 prevent the water from freezing ; this they accomplish by the con- 

 tinual stir kept up among them ; and by constantly dashing it with 

 their extended wings they are enabled to remain as long as it suits 

 their convenience in some favorite part of a lake or river which 

 abounds with their food. The swan is very properly entitled the 

 peaceful Monarch of the Lake ; conscious of his superior strength 

 he fears no enemy, nor suffers any bird, however powerful, to 

 molest him ; neither does he prey upon any one. His vigorous 

 wing is as a shield against the attacks even of the Eagle, and the 

 blows from it are said to be so powerful as to stun or kill the 

 fiercest of his foes. The wolf or the fox may surprise him in 

 the dark, but their efiforts are vain in the day." There is no 

 exaggeration in the account of the strength of a blow from a 

 swan's wing. They have been known with one stroke to fracture 

 a man's arm. 



The inner flight feathers are large, and capable of performing 

 a peculiar function. One may often see a Alute Swan progress- 

 ing through the water without ever a stroke of the large webbed 

 feet, the inner wing feathers being elevated to such a degree that 

 they catch the breeze, sail-like, and carry the bird along with 

 considerable rapidity. 



It is interesting to observe the special conditions under which 

 swans were formerly allowed to be kept. For not then, as now, 

 could any one go to a dealer in birds and purchase at will one 

 of these birds for $15.00 or $20.00. In the time of Edward I. 

 no one but the king's son could keep a swan unless possessed of 

 five marks rental. Stealing their eggs was punished with impris- 

 onment of a year and a day. 



Newton tells us that formerly in England the Mute Swan was 

 much more abundant than at present, the cygnets being then 



