MUTE SWAN 



TAME SWAN. 

 PLATE CLXXXVIIL FIGURE II. 



Cygnusolor, NAUMANN. 



Anas olor, ...... GMELIN. 



THE Swan disposes its nest on the ground, near the 

 water side, or on some mound on an island in the 

 river or lake. It is made of rushes and flags, and if the 

 water threatens to rise, more materials, which the male 

 bird brings, and the female works in, are added to the 

 deposit under the eggs, which are thus gradually raised 

 further out of danger. 



The ordinary number of eggs laid by this Swan is 

 from three to four, sometimes five, occasionally six, and 

 not very rarely eight or even more in number, older birds 

 laying the larger, and younger the fewer numbers respec- 

 tively. They are of a dull greenish-white colour. At 

 Beddington Park, in Norfolk, twelve eggs were deposited, 

 and the brood all reared, in 1850. 



Incubation continues for from five to six weeks. After 

 being hatched for one day, the cygnets follow the guidance 

 of their parents to the water, and have but little instruction 



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