THE SWANNERY AT ABBOTSBURY 69 



on continually ; and as the cock-swan takes his share, 

 or even more than his share, of the duties of sitting 

 upon the eggs, one of the pair is always at liberty to 

 collect fresh material. This is mainly piled in a 

 kind of wall round the nest, the interior being already 

 finished, and often partly felted with a lining of 

 swansdown from the birds' breasts. To the visitor 

 who, under the guidance of the swanherd, walks 

 on the narrow grass-paths which wind amid the 

 labyrinth of nests, the colony recalls visions of visits 

 to the island-homes of the great petrels or giant 

 albatrosses in distant oceans. Many of the swans have 

 built their nests so that they even encroach upon the 

 paths ; and each of the great birds as he passes throws 

 back its snake-like head, and with raised crest hisses 

 fiercely and rattles the pinions of its wings, or even 

 leaves the nest, and, with every feather quivering with 

 excitement, makes as though it would drive the 

 intruder from the sanctuary. But the presence of the 

 swanherd generally reassures the birds, though the 

 hissing rises and falls as if from the throats of a 

 thousand angry snakes. In view of the natural jealousy 

 and fierceness of swans in the breeding season, the 

 comparative gentleness of the Abbotsbury birds is 

 somewhat remarkable. On the rivers and broads of 

 Norfolk, each pair claims and secures a large stretch 

 of water for their sole use, and constant and some- 

 times fatal fights take place if the reserved territory 

 is invaded by another pair. There, also, the swans 

 will occasionally attack not only strangers, but the 



