746 



SWAN. 



as they are useful in the application. Of this we can- 

 not have a more delightful instance than in the swan, 

 whether we consider it as rowing, as sailing, or as 

 combining the two together. The waters upon 

 which swans are seen are, in Britain at least, all in 

 very lonely places, and the birds are most out upon 

 the breadth of those ornamental waters at the most 

 delightful season of the year the green maturity of 

 the season, which is midway between the bloom of 

 the summer and the abundance of the autumn. 



White swans cannot be regarded as in a perfectly 

 wild state in any part of the British islands ; and the 

 obvious reason appears to be, that there is no part of 

 those islands in a state of wild nature which is at all 

 fitted to the habits of the white swan. It is a bird of 

 such places where there are rivers and lakes with 

 abundance of reeds and the taller aquatic grasses, 

 and other plants which can furnish it with a supply of 

 food at all seasons of the year ; and when it is upon 

 the waters of such places, it shows no disposition to 

 migrate, as is shown by the whistling swan ; we need 

 not therefore look for it at any season in those 

 northern pools and lakes, to which the other some- 

 times resorts in the severity of the winter. 



But though the white swan cannot be considered 

 as a wild bird with us, so neither is it a tame one. 

 Man has property in it by law only, and not by any 

 attachment that the bird has to him. There are some 

 places of the country where the swans are not claimed 

 by any one as a property ; this we believe is the case 

 on the river Trent, and also on some of the waters 

 in the southern parts of the country, where swans as 

 property are more numerous than they are in the 

 north. On the Thames, and on most of the other 

 rivers and lakes, the swans are in general property; 

 and there are some pretty severe enactments against 

 the disturbing of them, or the plundering of their 

 nests. Notwithstanding the disposition to kill and 

 destroy every thing, especially every thing ornamental, 

 which seems to be inherent in the nature of certain 

 classes of mankind, swans appear to be less annoyed 

 than almost any other bird. When on the water they 

 are tolerably safe from any annoyance ; and in the 

 nesting time the boys are not very fond of approach- 

 ing them for the purpose of plundering. They seem 

 to be favourites to a rank considerably lower down 

 than most other birds, for the rest are destroyed 

 without mercy, except when individuals are kept in 

 confinement as a sort of property : and this is in 

 itself a species of destruction to the bird, and has at 

 least but little tendency to improve the disposition of 

 the keeper. In the middle latitudes of European Rus- 

 sia, and of Siberia, swans are much more abundant, 

 and more in what we may consider their natural state, 

 than they are in any part of the British islands ; but 

 in what part of the world, or under what circum- 

 stances soever they make their appearance, they are 

 always highly ornamental to the places where they 

 are found. 



BEWICK'S SWAN (7. JBewicku). This species has 

 a considerable resemblance to the common wild or 

 whistling swan, and probably has been often con- 

 founded with it ; but there are sufficient differences 

 between them, both external and internal, for entitling 

 them to be considered as distinct species. It is a 

 smaller bird than the whistling swan, in the length of 

 the body, the extent of the wings, and especially in 

 the weight, which is considerably less in proportion 

 to the dimensions ; the bill is of the same colour, 



namely, black in the greater part of the mandibles 

 and yellow in the cere, and the general colour of the 

 plumage is white ; instead, however, of the dull 

 yellow on the top of the head and the nape, this bird 

 has the front mottled with rust colour. The chief 

 natural distinction is in the bronchial part of the 

 trachea, which, instead of having a short convolution 

 in this part of the sternum, as in the other, has a large 

 duplicature within the substance, as between the 

 plates of that bone. The habits of this species have 

 been but imperfectly observed ; they do not, how- 

 ever, appear to differ much from those of the other 

 wild swans, only as the bird is much more rare in tliis 

 country, and little adapted for long migrations, it is 

 probable that it inhabits still further to the north in 

 the breeding season, but the fact is not established. 



There are various species of swans in other parts 

 of the world, besides those which have been enume- 

 rated ; but as we know but little of their habits as 

 differing from those already described, a very short 

 notice only will be necessary. The most remark- 

 able is 



THE BLACK SWAN (C. niger), which is a native of 

 Australia, but has been domesticated in some parts 

 of this country, and appears to bear the climate very 

 well ; but it is much more of a tyrant on the waters 

 than the white swan, and will allow no other swim- 

 ming bird to live in its vicinity. The whole plumage 

 is black, with the exception of the first six quills, 

 which are white ; the bill, and a naked space round 

 the eye, are red ; the length is about four feet and a 

 half, and the wings rather shorter in proportion than 

 the white swan, but they are broad and strong. The 

 plan and structure of the nest are about the same as 

 those of the white swan, and there does not appear 

 to be much difference either in the food or the general 

 habits. The male is particularly watchful of the 

 female when sitting, and of both female and brood 

 when they are on the water ; he not only drives off 

 all other birds, but if any anima', or even a human 

 being, approaches, he lands and marches forth to 

 give him battle at a distance from the family ; his 

 wings are raised ready for the stroke, his feathers are 

 ruffled, and he puts on altogether rather a formidable 

 appearance, only it is rendered not a little ludicrous 

 by the awkwardness of his gait, which makes it ap- 

 pear that walking is really more than he can manage, 

 without any toil of battle in supplement to it. It is 

 probable, however, that the strong excitement that he 

 is under is the real cause of this curious waddling 

 motion, and that it helps to " scare the enemy" not 

 " in" but " from" battle. In this country the young 

 are produced about the same season as those of the 

 white swan, and the number in a brood appear also 

 to be much the same. They are of a blackish ashen 

 grey, which continues the whole of the first year. As 

 a curiosity the black swan is all very well, the more 

 especially that it was for such a length of time impli- 

 citly looked upon as the impossible bird that was no 

 where to be met with ; but it has none of the beauty 

 and grace of the white swan, which must continue to 

 be the favourite as an ornamental bird. 



The swans of the tropical parts of Africa and 

 America are smaller than those of the north, and they 

 have the colours in general more broken. We find 

 in them, and also in some in the north parts of Ame- 

 rica, a resemblance to the geese. 



THE GAMBIAN SWAN (C. Gambensis) will be found 

 described in the article GOOSE, under the name of 



