412 HISTORY 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 sus- 

 picious, since they are reduced to this Mr George 

 Braun, and John Rostorph, the native of a coun- 

 try remarkable for ignorance and credulity. It 

 is probable the ancients had some mythologi- 

 cal meaning in ascribing melody to the swan ; 

 and as for the moderns, they scarcely deserve 

 our regard. The swan, therefore, must be con- 

 tent with that share of fame which it possesses on 

 the score of its beauty ; 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 mar- 

 gin. It prepares a nest in spme retired part of 

 the bank, and chiefly where there is an islet in the 

 stream. This is composed of 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 excluded, 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, 



