SWANS 225 



as a royal bird, and the privilege of owning swans was granted 

 only to those in high station. At first the number of those who 

 were permitted to own swans was very small, but it was afterward 

 extended until, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, more than nine 

 hundred different swanmarks were registered by the royal swan- 

 herd, who had general oversight of all the swans in the kingdom. 

 The swans were marked by branding or cutting the bill, this 

 being necessary because they lived largely on the margins of 

 uninclosed waters, just as in some of our Western states cattle 

 live on unfenced lands. The right to own swans carried with it 

 the right to keep them in such a place. 



Place in domestication. Although it has been bred in captivity 

 for centuries, the swan is not fully domesticated. It does not, 

 like the duck and the goose, so increase in size and weight 

 when kept under the control of man that it becomes incapable 

 of flight, but, like the American Wild Goose in captivity, it is 

 prevented from flying by removing the first joint of one wing, 

 the operation being performed as soon as possible after the 

 young birds are hatched. The swan lives more on the water 

 than either the duck or the goose. It subsists largely upon 

 coarse aquatic grasses and plants, and is said to eat all kinds of 

 decaying matter found in the water. 



In England in old times the swan was used as food by the 

 wealthy, but its use for this purpose ceased long ago. It is 

 now kept almost exclusively for ornament. Most of the swans 

 in America are kept in public parks or on large private estates. 

 Very few are reared here ; the supply is kept up largely by 

 importations from England. The swan is not popular, because 

 the birds are costly and are not prolific. Still the breeding of 

 swans for ornamental purposes or for sale to exhibitors might 

 be carried on with profit upon many farms. Under suitable con- 

 ditions, swans may, at the same time, perform valuable service 

 and make a valuable product. By consuming the kinds of food 

 which they prefer, they clean ponds and keep sluggish streams 



