303 



THE SWAN 



Anas Olor, Linn^os ; Le gigne, Buffon ; Der Schwan, Bechstew. 



Instead of the common name of tame swan, I prefer that of 

 mute swan, in order to distinguish this from the whistling, 

 also called the Avild swan, but improperly, for in Russia it is 

 more common to have that tamed than the one under notice. 

 This, however, is found wild throughout most parts of Eu- 

 rope, and in great numbers in Siberia. In Germany, when a 

 person wishes to have one on a piece of water, and to keep it 

 there constantly, he chooses some young ones, and breaks or 

 cuts the first bone in the wing, to disable them from flying, 

 and consequently prevent their departing in the autumn with 

 their Avild companions. 



The swan is larger than a domestic goose, it is four feet and 

 a half in length, on account of its long neck, which it bends in 

 the form of an S when it is swimming ; it measures seven feet 

 and a quarter from tip to tip of the wings, and weighs from 

 twenty-five to thirty pounds. The beak is dark red, having 

 at the base a large black callous knob, and at the tip something 

 resembling the head of a nail, black, and rather bent ; a bare 

 black triangular streak extends from the beak to the eyes ; the 

 feet are black the first year, lead grey the second, and reddish 

 lead grey at last ; the plumage is a snowy white. 



Observations. — The story of its melodious death-song is now quite ex- 

 ploded ; the organisation of its windpipe permits only a slight hiss, a dull 

 murmur, and a gentle croaking. Song, properly so called, belongs exclu- 

 sively to the whistling swan ; a poet may have heard it once, and without 

 observing the difference between the birds, have attributed it to the com- 

 mon swan. The later feeds on insects and aquatic plants ; during the 

 winter corn should be given it, and it must be kept in a temperate place. 

 The female forms a large nest, of the stalks of rushes, reeds, and other 

 plants, and lines it with feathers from her breast. She lays six or eight 

 greenish white eggs, and sits on them five weeks. During this time, the 

 male is always near her, driving away and pursuing all that would approach. 

 He has such strength of wing, that a well-aimed blow of it would break a 

 man's leg. The young ones are at first grey. It is said that swans will 

 live a hundred years. Their utility as well as their beauty would merit 

 more attention than is commonly paid to their education, which is easier 

 than that of geese. Lithuania, Poland, and eastern Prussia, send several 

 quintals every year to the fair of Frankfort upon Oder. Many tame swans 

 are also collected on the Sprey, round Berlin, Spandau, and Potsdam ; 

 particularly in May, to rob them of their down. The skins with the 

 •lown on them are prepared for pelisses powder puffs are also made of it. 



