SWANS. 



337 



Jsorth America possesses two representatives of this group of 

 American Swans. . . , ~ , , . 



swans, namely, the American swan (C. columbianus), and the 



trumpeter swan (C. buccinator), both of which have the windpipe folded. These 

 two species have black beaks; but whereas in the former the number of tail- 

 feathers is usually twenty, the beak is not longer than the head, and the naked 

 skin of the lores generally shows a yellow spot ; in the latter there are twenty- 

 four tail-feathers, the beak is longer than the head, and there is no yellow on the 

 lores. The trumpeter somewhat exceeds the whooper in size, whereas the other 

 species is somewhat smaller. In defence of wounded companions the American 

 swan is stated to display great affection, a number having been known to collect 

 round a disabled bird and aid its escape by pushing it forward in the water and 

 supporting its broken wing. In its southerly migration it collects in flocks of 

 twenty or thirty, flying only when the wind is favourable, and then ascending to 

 a great height in the air. The flock flies in the form of an elongated wedge ; the 

 rate of their progress being estimated at upwards of a hundred miles an hour. 



The mute swan of the Old World (C. olor) indicates a second 

 group of the genus, characterised by the relatively long and wedge- 

 shaped tail, the presence of a large tubercle at the base of the beak, and the absence 

 of a fold of the windpipe entering the breast-bone. In addition to these features, 

 the mute swan may be recognised by the coloration of the beak, in which the base, 

 together with the lores and tubercle, is black, while the terminal portion is orange- 

 red; the coloration being therefore just the reverse of that met with in the 

 whooper. In size the mute swan agrees with the latter ; the tubercle of the bill 

 attaining its greatest development in old males. Best known in the British Islands 

 as a domesticated bird, there is little doubt that during the winter there are some 

 wild visitants. The range of the species includes Europe and some portions of 

 Asia, the breeding-area embracing South Sweden, parts of Germany, Russia, 

 Transylvania, Turkestan, etc., while during winter these birds enter Northern 

 Africa, Egypt, and Xorth- Western India. While swimming, the mute swan is the 

 most graceful of all its kin, being the one in which alone the neck is bent in true 

 " swanlike " form. Deriving its name from the absence of any cry in the domestic 

 race, it appears that wild birds trumpet like the whooper. The nesting-time 

 during which the male bird displays extreme pugnacity takes place in May ; the 

 nests being generally built in association, and the number of eggs in each varying 

 from five to eight. The only swannery in England is the one at Abbotsbury, near 

 Weymouth, belonging to the Earl of Ilchester, where in 1880 there were upwards 

 of fourteen hundred birds. This swannery, which dates from very ancient times, 

 is situated on the estuary known as the Fleet, of which the upper portion is brackish 

 while the lower parts are completely salt. In the breeding-season the nests cover 

 a large area near the shore ; and while some of the young birds remain to increase 

 the numbers in the swannery, others wander out into the Fleet and become nearly 

 wild. The severe winter of 1880-81 reduced the number of swans to about eight 

 hundred, an average which has been since maintained. 



A considerable amount of discussion has taken place as to whether the so-called 

 Polish swan (C. immutabilis), distinguished by the smaller size of the tubercle on 

 the beak, the black edges to the gape, and the slaty legs, as well by the plumage 



VOL. IV. 22 



