NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



81 



WHITE SWANS. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 V/HITB SWANS. 



Mr. Cole : — These truly splendid and most or- 

 namental aquatic birds are but little known in the 

 New England States. The species which is bred 

 in confinement is the Cygnus olor, or mute swan. 

 These birds have no voice or notes. The only 

 sound thay make is a hiss or rather a loud breath- 

 ing. They are not domesticated, and can only be 

 prevented from escaping by "pinioning," i. e., by 

 amputating a part of one wing. They are migrato- 

 ry, and, like the wild geese, in the .spring of the 

 year they pass to the high northern latitudes to 

 breed, and returning in autumn, pass the winter on 

 the sea-coasts, and in lakes and large ponds, sub- 

 sisting on the aquatic vegetation, seeds and insects. 



When kept in confinement, swans thrive best in 

 shallow and muddy ponds or sluggish and muddy 

 streams. Ponds and streams of clear water do not 

 suit them. 



Swans are beneficial in consuming all decaying 

 aquatic weeds, the spawn and larvae of watf^r in- 

 sects. The green slime which is so unsightly in 

 sluggish waters is favorite food for them." They 

 eradicate water-weeds, and keep the waters in 

 which they are confined free from them, and, by 

 consuming all putrescent matter, prevent the gen- 



eration of the miasma so deleterious to the human 

 race. 



Some writers have expressed a doubt whether 

 swans would breed in the New England States on 

 account of the severity of the climate. The habits 

 of the swan and wild goose in freedom are alike. 

 That wild geese do breed in confinement in the 

 New England States no one doubts. Then, why 

 will not swans do the same ? That swans can, 

 without difficulty, be kept at all seasons of the year, 

 is abundantly proved by the experiments of Mr. 

 John Giles, of Providence, R. I., and Mr. G. 

 Thompson, of Bridgeport, Ct. These gentlemen 

 have kept them for several years. Mr. Giles has 

 had to contend with great difficulties, — Mr. Thomp- 

 son is more happily situated. 



Mr. Giles resides in the city of Providence. The 

 land improved by him is composed of sand, so loose 

 and porous that it is ever dry. A more forbidding 

 and uncongenial situation for keeping aquatic fowls 

 cannot easily be found. But few men would have 

 attempted to have kept any aquatic fowls on such 

 a phice, much less, the extensive and varied collec- 

 tion possessed by Mr. Giles. 



Swans, notwithslaudin? their indomitable love of 

 freedom, sometimes exhibit much gratitude and 

 affection for their keepers. Those belonging to 

 Mr. Thompson, of Bridgeport, show these traits 



