224 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



between them. The only way to identify the sex with certainty 

 is by observing the birds at nesting time. 



The name "swan" is Anglo-Saxon. Nothing is known of its 

 derivation. The terms "cock" and " hen" are sometimes applied 

 to swans as they are to many other kinds of birds. The swan- 

 herds in England call the male a cob and the female &pen. The 

 young swan is called a cygnet, from the French word for "swan." 



FIG. 176. Swan and nest 



Origin and history in domestication. Tradition says that the 

 domestic swan was brought to England from France by Richard 

 the Lion-hearted. As the swan is a migratory bird, still some- 

 times seen in many parts of the Eastern Hemisphere north of the 

 equator, it is possible that swans were known in England long 

 before the reign of this king. However that may be, it is certain 

 that, from about the time of the Norman Conquest, the swan 

 has occupied a peculiar position in England. It was regarded 



