THE MUTE SWAN. 889 



to a neighbouring broad, where he had rights. After a time 

 one bird returned home alone, and its missing mate was at 

 length discovered, half-decomposed, on a sedgy islet in the 

 broad, in such a position as to indicate that it had been sur- 

 prised and killed by one of the larger weasels, a stoat, or a 

 polecat. 



Considerable difference of opinion has been entertained re- 

 specting the diet of the Swan; some supposing it to be ex- 

 clusively vegetable, others believing that fish enter largely 

 into it. My own observations tend to prove that a very con- 

 siderable part of their nutriment is obtained from minute 

 insects and molluscs. The sluggish, weedy waters, where 

 Swans thrive best, abound with such creatures; and the Whale 

 is a sufficient example that the size of. the prey is no index to 

 the magnitude of the creatures that subsist on it. Swans fall 

 off in condition very rapidly in autumn, however liberally they 

 are supplied with corn, immediately that the temperature 

 drops to any extent, and the minor inhabitants of the pools 

 disappear into their winter retreats. A very small fish might 

 now and then not come amiss to them, and spawn would be 

 greedily devoured. A Swan must be considerably more de- 

 structive in this respect than the poor little "Water Ouzel, 

 which is so bitterly persecuted along the salmon-streams of 

 Scotland, for the alleged injury it does to the ova of the fish. 

 The seeds of grasses, and the soft starchy parts of aquatic 

 plants, are no doubt a considerable portion of the daily ration 

 of the Swan. It seems to prefer sloppy, half-decayed vegeta- 

 tion, to that which is fresh and crisp. Spare garden-stuff, 

 spinach, and such like, thrown out for them, is liked all the 

 better for having lain soaking at least twenty-four hours, that 

 is, in such time as it has become sodden and attacked by small 

 fresh-water shell-fish. If their mode of feeding is watched, it 

 will be found to countenance the popular belief that many 

 birds live " by suction ;" they appear to suck down the pappy 



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