74 SOUTHERN ESTUARIES 



number of the swans in the course of fourteen years 

 from 800 to 1 500." The heirs of Giles Strangways 

 were successful in defending their right to the birds, 

 when it was contested on behalf of Queen Elizabeth 

 that the swans, if marked, belonged to him, though 

 those which were not marked, " having gained their 

 natural liberty by swimming in an open river, might be 

 seized to the sovereign's use by her prerogative, because 

 they are royal birds." 



In August the cygnets of the year are nearly fully 

 fledged, but are shut in pens with the old birds in order 

 to keep them warm. By this time the swans begin to 

 scatter over the whole of the Fleet, and even go into 

 Weymouth Harbour. By this time the young terns, 

 bred on the Chesil Bank, are also fledged and on the 

 wing. The country boys catch them by putting a 

 noose propped open with a straw just above a fish. 

 The birds stoop down, and are caught by the neck. 

 Later in mid-winter, the coots assemble on the Fleet, 

 and in autumn sometimes an osprey. In March the 

 ducks stay for a short time before going north, and 

 the swannery waters are crowded with them. The few 

 that stay to nest go up into the hills, and bring their 

 young later down the streams to the Fleet. They 

 have been seen swimming down the brook through the 

 village in the grey of the morning. 



Abbotsbury is one of the choice spots of southern 

 England. The place is as interesting as the birds. 

 Sub-tropical trees and shrubs grow in the gardens ; 

 there are the remains of the monastery, and the old 



