144 THE BIRDS OF DORSET. 



prescribed that the Abhot and all his predecessors 

 had used at all times to have and to take to their 

 own use some of the said game of wild swans and 

 cygnets in the said creek, it would have been good ; 

 for although swans are royal fowls, yet in such a 

 manner that a man may claim prescription, for they 

 might have a lawful beginning by the grant, and yet 

 without that prescription they do belong to the King 

 by his prerogative. 



The following statistics, obtained in different years 

 and collected from various sources, will convey an idea 

 of the proportions of this remarkable Swannery : 



1865. In this year there were "probably not more than 500 

 Swans including young birds" (Harting, Zoologist, 1865, 

 p. 9671 ; 1877, p. 505). This was after a severe winter, 

 when many perished from causes mentioned below. 



1866. Less than 700 (Truth, i4th October 1880). 



1873. Upwards of 1000 (Mansel Pleydell, Catalogue 0} the 

 Birds of Dorset, 1873, p. 41). 



1876. On May 12, "about noo Swans, 640 engaged in 

 incubation, the remainder being birds varying from one 

 to two or three years' growth. The swanherd stated that 

 they do not lay before their third year." J. C. [John 

 Colebrooke ?], Land and Water, 3rd June 1876. 



1877. On July 19, "a flock of 700 of these noble birds a 

 goodly colony " was inspected by the Kev. A. C. Smith 

 (Zoologist, 1877, p. 511). 



1878. On April 25, "Mr. J. H. Gurney was assured by the 

 swanherd, who had held office there for more than fifty 

 years, that the number of Swans then under his charge 

 was fully 1300, of which nearly half were engaged in the 

 duties of incubation" (ZooL, 1878, p. 208). 



1880. "Over 1400 birds, or considerably more than double 

 the number in 1866 " (Truth, i^th October 1880). 



A catastrophe happened in the winter of 1880 



