35<i THE SWAN. 



dashing forwards, so battered him with her wings, that he was 

 soon killed, in the sight of several persons who saw the combat. 



Besides the Swans above mentioned, there is another peculiar 

 to Australia or New Holland, entirely black, and which is now 

 naturalised in England, and forms an additional ornament to the 

 rivers and lakes of our parks and pleasure-grounds. We have 

 already noticed the peculiar manner adopted by young Coots for 

 concealing themselves under water ; and it has been ascertained, 

 by those who have had opportunities of observing the habits of 

 the Black Swan in its wild and natural state, that although it 

 cannot dive, it contrives to immerse itself so deep in the water 

 as to render its body nearly invisible, and thus avoid detection. 



We have already noticed the trade carried on in Goose quills ; 

 those of Swans being, of course, proportionably larger, and less 

 common, are still in request, and preferred by some; conse- 

 quently a considerable number find their way into the market, 

 and fetch high prices. One of the principal sources of this 

 trade is on the coast of the Black Sea, at its north-western 

 extremity, in the neighbourhood of Kinbourn, a Eussian 

 fortress, nearly opposite to Oczakof, at the point of a tongue 

 of land, deeply indented with creeks and bays; and, as the 

 country round is but thinly inhabited, wild birds abound. 

 Amongst others, it is thronged with Swans, which select the 

 long sandy headlands for the site of their nests. They assemble 

 in numerous nights about these creeks during the breeding 

 season. Aware of this, the people who collect their feathers 

 start in pursuit of them, the old birds being then busy hatch- 

 ing and breeding their young. The feathers are drifted on 

 shore by the tide, and collected. The produce is sold to dealers, 

 who come from the neighbouring towns of Oczakof and Cher- 

 son, and eagerly bid against each other. Sometimes the quills 

 will fetch as much as three pounds per thousand, though the 

 usual price does not exceed twenty-two shillings. They are 

 also an article of trade amongst the people of the Crimea, who 

 live near extensive morasses and marshes, as well as the peasants 

 on the coast of the Sea of Azof, in the direction of Marapot 



