THE SWAN. 487 



of a piece of water in Germany wishes to keep these birds 

 throughout the winter, he chooses a pair of young ones, and cuts 

 or otherwise disables the first joint of their wings. They will 

 then be prevented from joining their comrades in the autumnal 

 migration. 



The Mute Swan is considerably larger than the Domestic 

 Goose ; as it often weighs from twenty-five to thirty pounds. 

 Owing to its long neck, which it curves to the shape of the 

 letter S when swimming, it measures four feet and a hajf, and 

 from tip to tip of the expanded wings seven feet and a 

 quarter. The beak is dark red, provided at the end with a 

 black nail or claw curved inwards, and overgrown at the root, 

 with a large round black knob. Between the beak and the eyes 

 is a triangular, black, naked membrane. During the first year 

 the feet are black ; in the second, lead coloured, and afterwards, 

 cinnabar red. The whole plumage is snowy white. 



Observations. It is hardly necessary to remark, that the story 

 of the Swan's dying song is an invention of the poets ; and that 

 the whistling Swan is the only bird of this species which is at all 

 capable of uttering anything like a song. The structure of the 

 larynx of the Tame or Mute Swan is so exceedingly simple, as to 

 preclude it from producing anything more than a low hiss, a deep 

 humming sound, and a gentle cackling. Its food consists of aquatic 

 plants and insects, especially beetles ; though in winter it must be 

 fed with grain, and protected hi some degree from the severity of 

 the weather. The nest, which is built of sedge, rushes, &c., lined 

 with the down from the breast of the female, generally contains 

 six or eight greenish white eggs. During the period of incuba- 

 tion, which lasts for five weeks, the male keeps guard over the 

 nest, attacks everything that approaches, and is, indeed, a very 

 formidable assailant, as he is said to be able to break a man's arm 

 or leg, by a blow of his wing. The Cygnets, when first hatched, 

 are grey ; and the bird is said to live a hundred years. 



The Swan is better worth the trouble of keeping than is some- 

 times supposed, not only on account of its beauty, but of the 

 profit which may be derived from it. It requires less care and 

 attention than the Goose, and its feathers are far more valuable. 

 Large quantities of them are every year brought to the fair at 

 Frankfort on the Oder, from Lithuania, Poland, and Prussia ; 

 and the wild Swans on the Spree, near Berlin, Spandau, and 

 Potsdam, are generally collected in May, to be plucked. The 

 skins, with the down on them, are also applied to the same pur- 

 poses as furs, and are made into powder puff's. The Cygnets are 

 .considered a great delicacy. 



