WHISTLING SWAN. 25 



" And now 'twas like all instruments, 

 Now like a lonely flute ; 

 And now it is an angel's song 

 Which makes the heavens be mute," 



and as the sound was borne to us, mellowed by the dis- 

 tance, we stood astonished, and could only exclaim, " We 

 have heard the song of the dying Swan." 



I made inquiries among the gunners as to whether any 

 of them had ever heard notes different from those usually 

 uttered by the Swan, when one was mortally wounded, 

 and some said they had, and on my asking them what 

 kind they were, they described something similar to 

 those we had heard and of which I have endeavored to 

 give an idea. We recovered the bird, which was an 

 adult in perfect plumage, and the skin made into a screen 

 adorns the drawing room of my friend. 



The young of this species is gray, sometimes lead 

 color during its first year, and the bill is soft and reddish 

 in hue. In the second year the plumage is lighter, and 

 the bill white, becoming black in the third year, when 

 the plumage, though white, is mottled with gray; the 

 head and neck especially showing but little white. It is 

 probable that it takes fully five years before the pure 

 white dress is assumed and the bird becomes such an 

 ornamental object. The flesh of the old birds is tough 

 and unfit to eat, and boiling is necessary before it 

 can be masticated, but the young or cygnets are tender 

 and well flavored. The Swan is supposed to live to a 

 great age, but this is one of those problems very diffi- 

 cult to solve. The length of time the domesticated bird 

 may live is no criterion (on account of its altered mode of 

 life) to estimate the age of the wild Swan, and of course 

 for the latter it is impossible to acquire any data to enable 

 a judgment to be formed. From fifteen to twenty years, 



