The Swans. 29 



ing of the Mute Swan in a state of 

 domestication. He says : " The old 

 Swans usually commence their nests in 

 March, but in cold backward seasons are 

 a week or two later, and for a fortnight 

 or three weeks before the eggs are laid 

 may be seen busily pulling and carrying 

 the stuff. I cannot ascertain, however, 

 that the hen birds, as stated by Mr. 

 Boyes, of Beverley, in a recent letter to 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney, junr., ever lay their 

 first eggs on the ground, except in cases 

 where the nest has been destroyed or 

 the birds driven from their first site just 

 as the female was ready to lay. The 

 foundation of the nest is, in most cases, 

 composed of dried fodder from the 

 'rands,' provided for their use, but sup- 

 plemented by reeds, rushes, and other 

 coarse herbage of their own collecting, 

 and added to more or less throughout 

 the time of incubation. The interior is 

 composed of somewhat finer materials, 

 mixed with their own down and feathers. 

 Though generally high enough to escape 

 the effects of any ordinary flood, they 

 have been known to raise them suddenly, 

 either collecting materials of their own 

 accord, or using such as the forethought 

 of the marshmen may have supplied, 



