174 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



contend successfully with large animals, and 

 even with men. 



It has been said that the swan sings a sweet 

 song, while it is dying. This is probably a 

 mere fable. I want much better evidence than 

 I have yet been able to obtain to satisfy me 

 that a swan ever sang in such circumstances, 

 or, indeed, that one ever sang at all. 



Swans were formerly held in such esteem in 

 England, that, by an act of Edward IV. none 

 except the son of a king was permitted to keep 

 a swan, unless possessed of five marks a year. 

 By a subsequent act, the punishment for taking 

 their eggs was imprisonment for a year and a 

 day, and a fine at the king's will. At present 

 swans are little valued for the delicacy of their 

 flesh, but many are still preserved for their 

 beauty. 



When in danger, the old birds are said to 

 carry off the young ones on their back. A 

 female swan has been known to attack and 

 drown a fox who was swimming toward her 

 nest. They have strength enough to throw 

 down and trample upon boys fourteen or fif- 

 teen years old. An old swan can break the 

 leg of a man with a single stroke of his wing. 



