238 FARMING FOR LADIES. [chap, xi. 



tired spot upon its bank ; the male diligently 

 assisting in its formation. The female lays 

 only once a year fi-om five to seven or eight 

 eggs, which she sits upon during six weeks for 

 hatching ; and the old birds may often be seen 

 carrying their young family — or " cygnets," 

 as they are termed — on their backs, by raising 

 up their wings in the manner of an arch, and 

 thus forming a sort of cradle. 



The birds are known to have lived to more 

 than a century, and it has even been asserted 

 — though without any proof which can be relied 

 on — that their existence sometimes extends to 

 even three hundred years ! An idea was long 

 entertained that before death they sing la- 

 mentably, and poets have alluded to — 



•' The swan-like dirges of a dying man ;" 



but it is almost unnecessary to state that the 

 supposition is unfounded ; for although Byron 

 calls the strain — 



" Sweet as the swan's last requiem ere she dies," 



yet he, also, we may presume to have made 

 use of the usual poetic license. 



Flocks of Wild Geese — or " grey-lags," as 

 they are sometimes called from the colour of 

 their feathers — were formerly not uncommon 



