BRITISH BIRDS. 277 



young brood, it is not safe to approach near them, 

 for they will fly upon any stranger, whom they 

 often beat to the ground by repeated blows; and 

 they have been known by a stroke of the wing to 

 break a man's leg. But, however powerful they 

 are with their wings, yet a slight blow on the head 

 will kill them. 



The Swan, for ages past, has been protected on 

 the river Thames as royal property; and it con- 

 tinues at this day to be accounted felony to steal 

 their eggs. " By this means their increase is 

 secured, and they prove a delightful ornament to 

 that noble river." Latham says, " In the reign of 

 Edward IV., the estimation they were held in was 

 such, that no one who possessed a freehold of less 

 than the clear yearly value of five marks, was per- 

 mitted even to keep any." In those times, hardly 

 a piece of water was left unoccupied by these birds, 

 as well on account of the gratification they gave to 

 the eye of their lordly owners, as that which they 

 also afforded when they graced the sumptuous 

 board at the splendid feasts of that period : but the 

 fashion of those days is passed a\vay, and Swans 

 are not nearly so common now as they were for- 

 merly, being by most people accounted a coarse 

 kind of food, and consequently held in little estima- 

 tion: but the Cygnets (so the young Swans are 

 called) are still fattened for the table, and are sold 

 very high, commonly for a guinea each, and some- 

 times for more : hence it may be presumed they are 

 better food than is generally imagined. 



This species is said to be found in great numbers 

 in Russia and Siberia, as well as further south- 

 ward, in a wild state. They are, without an owner, 



