aiu 



VERTKBRATA. 



FLAMINGOES. 



Jarge swan moving in its usual niajcstic manner over the smootli surtacc of the water. Sucli 

 is their beauty, that for centuries many of them have been domesticated in Europe, and used as 

 ornaments on lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, in the pleasure-grounds of palaces, villas, and chateaux. 

 Their wings are very long and powerful, and many of them perform long migrations, during 

 which they always fly in single lines. Their diet is principally of a vegetable nature, consist- 

 ing of grass, roots, and seeds ; but they are said also to feed upon worms and aquatic insects. 

 Swans are gregarious at all seasons. The nest, which is very bulky, is composed of grass, 

 rushes, and coarse herbage, and placed on the ground, generally among the sedges near the 

 water ; and several observers have stated that the swan, when sitting, has been known to add con- 

 siderably to the materials of her nest, so as to raise it sometimes as much as two feet or two feet 

 and a half, in anticipation of heavy rains, which swelled the waters to such an extent that the 

 nest, if left in its original condition, would have been completely submerged. The male remains 

 in company with the female during the period of incubation, and assists in the care of the young 

 after their exclusion from the shell. Young swans are called Cygnets. 



