LADY JANE THE SWAN 69 



When the swan was drowned the turtle could feast at lei- 

 sure. 



Very many young wild geese, ducks, and other water 

 fowl lose their lives in this way where turtles are abun- 

 dant. In fact, I have a friend near Ruthven, Iowa, who 

 decided to make use of a small lake near his house by 

 raising ducks by the hundreds, expecting the ducks to live 

 on the abundant food on its shores. As soon as his young 

 ducks were allowed to go to this lake the turtles began 

 catching them, and soon had caught so many that he 

 gave up the attempt and sold the few remaining duck- 

 lings. 



Early in the fall, Dad Oswalt came back to the lake de- 

 termined to get a young swan. They were just learning to 

 fly. After trying in vain to catch one, he finally shot it in 

 the wing and it fell some distance from the lake. It was 

 injured badly enough so that it could not fly; but when 

 he tried to catch it, he found that he had a real battle on 

 his hands. Even a young swan will weigh from twenty to 

 twenty-five pounds, and its wings are quite powerful. The 

 swan put up a terrific fight, biting and pounding with its 

 wings until Dad feared he would have to kill it afi^r all. 

 Bruised and bleeding, he finally subdued the bird, and 

 tying its wings over its back, took it home. Binding up 

 the broken wingf with a splint he placed it in a pen and fed 

 it as one would a goose or a duck. 



Those who have never seen a young swan doubtless do 

 not realize that they are not the beautiful, white bird we 

 often see gliding over the lakes in our city parks. A young 

 swan is not white at all, but an ugly brown, and a young 

 trumpeter swan remains that color until it is almost a year 

 old. That explains why the young can so quickly disap- 



