220 ANATID^E. 



which were sold in April 1842. They appeared in the 

 catalogue on the 6th day, and 8th lot, as, " Two books of 

 swan-marks, 8vo. on vellum, very rare." One of them 

 contained 810 marks, the other 80 marks: both books 

 commenced with a royal mark. There was no explanation 

 or description of the different marks, only the name of the 

 party to whom the mark had been appropriated, in the 

 characters of the time of Elizabeth. 



No. 9, the first swan-mark of the representations forming 

 the final vignette, is that of the corporation of Norwich, 

 now used to mark the Swans belonging to the corporation 

 on the river Yare. 



No. 10, is the swan-mark of the present Bishop of Nor- 

 wich, the President of the Linnean Society of London, to 

 whose kindness I am indebted for the following particu- 

 lars as now practised at Norwich, in reference to the feed- 

 ing the young Swans of the year for the table. The 

 town-clerk sends a note from the Town-hall to the pub- 

 lic swanherd, the corporation and others, who have Swans 

 and Swan rights. On the second Monday in August, 

 when collected in a small stew or pond, the number an- 

 nually varying from fifty to seventy, and many of them 

 belonging to private individuals,* they begin to feed 

 immediately, being provided with as much barley as they 

 can eat, and are usually ready for killing early in No- 

 vember. They vary in weight, some reaching to twenty- 

 eight pounds. They are all cygnets. If kept beyond 

 November they begin to fall off, losing both flesh and fat, 

 and the meat becomes darker in colour and stronger in 

 flavour. A printed copy of the following lines is usually 

 sent with each bird. 



* Bloomfield's History of Norfolk contains representations of numerous swan- 

 marks. 



