472 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



MUTE SWAN, Cygnus Olor. Like the Pheasant, 

 this bird has been so long introduced into this 

 country (since the reign of Richard I., who is said 

 to have brought it from Cyprus), and has so well 

 adapted itself to the climate, breeding and rearing 

 its young with little or no artificial protection or 

 food, even in the hardest winters, that it may now 

 be considered a British bird, and must consequently 

 be included in my list of Somersetshire birds, as 

 hardly any large pond or piece of water in the 

 county is without a pair or more of these beautiful 

 birds. The native countries of this bird are the 

 eastern parts of Europe and the southern parts of 

 Russia and Siberia. It may easily be distinguished 

 from either of the last-mentioned species by the 

 beak, the point and greater portion of which is 

 orange-red, and only the base and a knob at the 

 upper part of the base black, thus exactly reversing 

 the disposition of the colours. 



The food of this bird consists of roots, leaves, 

 grain, insects and their larvae, and aquatic vegetable 

 matter, of which it consumes so much that it is 

 often kept in large ponds for the purpose of keeping 

 them free of weeds : it probably also assists in 

 keeping them equally free of fish, the spawn of 

 which it consumes to such an extent that Meyer 

 sa} r s he is convinced the fishery of the Thames 

 suffers more from these birds than from all the 

 poachers can accomplish by their nightly labours. 



