Birds of Britain 



from five to nine or ten, are of a uniform pale green, and 

 are hatched after some five weeks' incubation. 



The young, which are covered at first with greyish 

 down, are carefully tended by both parents, and when tired 

 nestle on their parents' back. In olden times the right to 

 keep Swans on the Thames was granted by the King to 

 many of the City Companies, and in the autumn of each 

 year (a custom which is still continued) the young Swans 

 are caught up and marked on the bill with the private 

 mark of the Company to whom they belong. This is 

 known as "Swan upping." The male is known as the 

 " Cob " and the female as the " Pen," and the rules and 

 regulations clearly state how the brood shall be awarded in 

 the event of the Cob and Pen belonging to different 

 Companies, while the landowner on whose ground they nest 

 also comes in for a share. 



At the nest the male Swan is very savage, attacking 

 any intruder with his bill and with savage beats of his 

 powerful wings ; his mate, however, is very quiet and will 

 allow herself to be pushed off the nest with no stronger 

 protestation than a subdued " hiss." 



This Swan is not mute as its name implies, but has a 

 loud trumpet-like note, to which, however, it seldom gives 

 utterance. 



In a purely wild state, this species may be found breeding 

 in Denmark and the south of Sweden, and it is a common 

 breeding species in South-eastern Europe. From its 

 northern breeding haunts it migrates in winter, many prob- 

 ably coming over to our shores. 



The plumage is pure white ; the bill reddish orange with 



238 



