Destruction by Elements and Disease 15 



alight. Apparently they are carried down into 

 the swift water when asleep and then it is evi- 

 dently impossible for them to save themselves. 

 The young man told us that once he captured a 

 swan that was only stunned and that he tied a 

 fishing line to its leg and kept it in a little pond 

 made by an eddy of the river. The bird became 

 very tame and would take food from his hand, 

 but one day took alarm at a company of soldiers, 

 flew into the air, and snapping the fishing line 

 as though it had been a thread, flew away down 

 the river. 



Mr. Savage with some friends once saved a 

 flock of swans by chasing them in a power boat 

 and making them fly away just before nightfall. 

 It was a daring thing for these men to do, for if 

 by any chance the engine had become disabled 

 nothing could have prevented their going over 

 the falls. 



Severe winters destroy great numbers of birds, 

 which perish chiefly for lack of food. It seems 

 that most birds can stand cold weather if only 

 they can get food enough. A bird's body may be 

 likened to a little furnace in which food takes 

 the place of coal or wood. As long as there is 

 plenty of fuel in the furnace it remains warm no 

 matter how cold the weather may be; but when 

 there is no fuel to be had the fire dies out and 



