WATER-FOWL. 



595 



tion past all doubt, gives us the testimony of a 

 countryman of our own, from whom he had 

 the relation. This honest man's name was 

 Mr. George Braun, who assured him, that 

 nothing was more common in England, than 

 to hear swans sing ; that they were bred in great 

 numbers in the sea near London ; and that 

 every fleet of ships that returned from their voy- 

 ages from distant countries, were met by swans, 

 that came joyfully out to welcome their return, 

 and salute them with a loud and cheerful sing- 

 ing ! It was in this manner that Aldrovandus, 

 that great and good man, was frequently im- 

 posed upon by the designing and the needy : 

 his unbounded curiosity drew round him peo- 

 ple of every kind, and his generosity was as 

 ready to reward falsehood as truth. Poor 

 Aldrovandus ! after having spent a vast for- 

 tune, for the purposes of enlightening man- 

 kind ; after having collected more truth, and 

 more falsehood, than any man ever did be- 

 fore him, he little thought of being reduced at 

 last to want bread, to feel the ingratitude of 

 his country, and to die a beggar in a public 

 hospital ! 



Thus it appears that our modern authorities, 

 in favour of the singing of swans, are rather 

 suspicious, since they are reduced to this Mr. 

 G. Braun, and John Rostorph, the native of a 

 country remarkable for ignorance and credu- 

 lity. It is probable the ancients had some 

 mythological meaning in ascribing melody to 

 the swan ; and as for the moderns, they 

 scarcely deserve our regard. The swan, 

 therefore, must be content with that share of 

 fame which it possesses on the score of its beau- 

 ty; since the melody of its voice, without better 

 testimony, will scarcely be admitted by even 

 the credulous. 



This beautiful bird is as delicate in its appe- 

 tites, as elegant in its form. Its chief food is 

 corn, bread, herbs growing in the water, and 

 roots and seeds, which are found near the 

 margin. It prepares a nest in some retired 

 part of the bank, and chiefly where there is 

 an islet in the stream. This is composed of 



A species has lately been discovered in New Holland, 

 which at once puts an end'to the proverbial point of a 

 black swan. This rare and elegant bird, in its general 

 appearance, bears the most striking resemblance to the 

 tame swan, and has all those gracefully-varying attitudes 

 which so eminently distinguish it from all other inhabi. 



NO. 51 & 52. 



water-plants, long grass, and sticks ; and the 

 male and female assist in forming it with great 

 assiduity. The swan lays seven or eight eggs, 

 white, much larger than those of a goose, with 

 a hard, and sometimes a tuberous, shell. It 

 sits near two months before its young are ex- 

 cluded ; which are ash-coloured when they 

 first leave the shell, and for some months after. 

 It is not a little dangerous to approach the old 

 ones, when their little family are feeding round 

 them. Their fears, as well as their pride, 

 seem to take the alarm ; and they have some- 

 times been known to give a blow with their 

 pinion, that has broke a man's leg or arm. 



It is not till they are a twelvemonth old that 

 the young swans change their colour with 

 their plumage. All the stages of this bird's 

 approach to maturity are slow, and seem to 

 mark its longevity. It is two months hatch- 

 ing ; a year in growing to its proper size : and 

 if, according to Pliny's observation, that those 

 animals that are longest in the womb are the 

 longest lived, the swan is the longest in the 

 shell of any bird we know, and is said to be 

 remarkable for its longevity. Some say, that 

 it lives three hundred years ; and Willoughby, 

 who is in general diffident enough, seems to 

 believe the report. A goose, as he justly ob- 

 serves, has been known to live a hundred ; 

 and the swan, from its superior size, and from 

 its harder, firmer flesh, may naturally be sup- 

 posed to live still longer. 



Swans were formerly held in such great 

 esteem in England, that by an act of Edward 

 the Fourth, none, except the son of the king, 

 was permitted to keep a swan, unless possess- 

 ed of five marks a year. By a subsequent 

 act, the punishment for taking their eggs was 

 imprisonment for a year and a day, and a 

 fine at the king's will. At present they are 

 but little valued for the delicacy of their flesh ; 

 but many are still preserved for their beauty. 

 We see multitudes on the Thames and Trent; 

 but no where greater numbers than on the salt 

 water inlet of the sea near Abbotsbury, in 

 Dorsetshire." 



tants of the waters : but the plumage is of a full deep 

 black, with a bill of the finest red, and white quilled fea- 

 thers. The tip of the upper beak is blackish ; and thero 

 is a yellow spot near it : the legs are black, and the feet 

 somewhat paler. 



4Q 



