32 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



This habit of taking the young on her 

 back is not, as some have supposed, 

 adopted only as a means of safety when 

 crossing a strong current, but is a method 

 of brooding her young on the water, very 

 commonly practised by the female Swan 

 whilst her cygnets are young, and she 

 will sink herself low in the water that 

 they may mount more easily. Whether 

 at the same time she gives them a ' leg- 

 up ' by raising them on the broad webs 

 of her own feet, I cannot say positively ; 

 but this is not improbable, since a 

 favourite action in Swans is that of swim- 

 ming with one foot resting upon the 

 lower part of the back, the sole of the 

 foot being uppermost. . . . Swans pair 

 for life, build a fresh nest each season, 

 and, if left unmolested, will keep pretty 

 close to the same locality. . . . Young 

 hen birds do not lay till their second 

 year, some not until the third or fourth, 

 and commence by laying from three to 

 five eggs. . . . Commencing with five eggs, 

 the same bird will lay from seven to 

 nine the next season, and in the following 

 year from ten to eleven, being then at 

 her prime at four years old. . . . Incuba- 

 tion usually occupies five weeks, or about 

 a week longer should the weather be very 



