THE WHITE SWAN. 



THIS magnificent bird is well 

 known from being kept in 

 a half-domesticated condition 

 throughout many parts of 

 Europe, whence it has been carried to 

 other countries. In England, accord 

 ing to Newton, it was more abundant 

 formerly than at present, the young 

 being highly esteemed for the table. 

 It was under special enactments for 

 its preservation, being regarded as a 

 'bird royal," which no subject could 

 possess without license from the 

 crown, the granting of which license 

 was accompanied by the condition 

 that every bird in the " game," the 

 old legal term, of swans should bear a 

 distinct mark of ownership on the bill. 

 Originally this ownership was con 

 ferred on the larger freeholders only, 

 but it was gradually extended, so that 

 in the reign of Elizabeth upwards of 

 nine hundred distinct swan marks, 

 being those of private persons or cor 

 porations, were recognized by the 

 royal swanherd, whose jurisdiction 

 extended over the whole kingdom. At 

 the present time the Queen's com 

 panies of Dyers and Vintners still 

 maintain their swans on the Thames. 

 The largest swanery in England is that 

 belonging to Lord Ilchester. 



It has been stated that the swan was 

 introduced into England in the reign of 

 Richard Cceur de Lion; but it is now 

 so perfectly naturalized that birds hav 

 ing the full power of flight remain in 

 the country. There is no evidence to 



show that its numbers are ever in 

 creased by immigration from abroad, 

 though it is known to breed as a wild 

 bird in the extreme south of Sweden, 

 whence it may be traced in a south 

 easterly direction to the valley of the 

 Danube. 



, The nest of the swan is a large mass 

 of aquatic plants, is often two feet 

 high and six feet in diameter. The 

 eggs are from five to nine in number, 

 of a grayish-olive color. The young 

 are hatched in five to six weeks, 

 and when hatched are clothed in 

 sooty-gray down, which is succeeded 

 by feathers of dark soot-gray. This 

 suit is gradually replaced by white; 

 but the cygnets are more than a year 

 old before they lose all trace of color 

 and become wholly white. 



The swan of North America is con 

 siderably larger than that of the old 

 world. The first species is the trum 

 peter, so-called, of which the bill is 

 wholly black, and the second ( Cygnus 

 columbianus, or americanus] has the col 

 ored patches on the bill of less extent 

 and deepening almost into scarlet. 



Fossil remains of more than one 

 species of swan have been found. 



Our picture presents this stately- 

 bird swimming among water lilies, a 

 sight that may be seen in summer in 

 some of our American parks, notably 

 the Central Park of New York City. 

 Chicago and Cincinnati have some fine 

 specimens. For portrait and sketch of 

 the black swan, see Vol. Ill, pp.66, 67. 



NEBRASKA'S MANY BIRDS. 



NEBRASKA is distinctively the 

 bird center of the United States. 

 It contains more species than 

 any other state in the Union, and 

 ornithologists who have studied its 

 feathered possessions have classified 

 417 distinct species that may be seen 

 within its boundaries. Of these 225 

 species breed here and the remainder 

 are migrants who drop in on us at cer 

 tain seasons and then pass on to their 

 breeding-grounds. The natural features 

 of Nebraska are largely responsible for 



this remarkable variety of feathered 

 population. It includes a diversity of 

 country that offers attractions for 

 hundreds of songsters. For instance, 

 the mocking-bird and the cardinal 

 grosbeak, who are distinctive Southern 

 birds, frequently appear in the southern 

 corner of the state, and in the west we 

 have a large number of what are usually 

 regarded as mountain birds, but which 

 come down from the foothills at inter 

 vals to the kingdom of Quivera. 

 Omaha Bee. 



84 



