74 MUTE SWAN. 



MUTE SWAN. 



TAME SWAN. 

 PLATE CLXXXVIII. FIGURE II. 



Cygnus olor, JENYNS. 



Cygnus mansuetus, GOULD. 



Anas olor, PENNANT. BEWICK. 



rriHE 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 two to four, sometimes five, occasionally six, 

 and not very rarely eight in number, older birds laying 

 the larger, and younger the fewer numbers respectively. 

 They are of a dull greenish white colour. In one 

 instance as many as nine were laid, and all of them 

 successfully hatched, in the Jephson Gardens, at 

 Leamington. It is possible, however, that two birds 

 may have made use of the same nest, and, if so, the 

 one under whose care all came, proved no 'injusta 

 noverca,' but tended all with the like attention. At 

 Beddington Park, in Norfolk, twelve eggs were de- 

 posited, and the brood all reared, in 1850. 



