THE SWAN. 191 



north-western extremity, in the neighbourhood of 

 Kiiibourn, a Russian fortress, nearly opposite to 

 Oczakof, at the point of a tongue of land, deeply 

 indented with creeks and bays; and, as the country 

 round is but thinly inhabited, wild birds abound. 

 Amongst others, it is thronged with Swans, which 

 select the long sandy headlands for the site of their 

 nests. They assemble in numerous flights about 

 these creeks, during the breeding-season. Aware 

 of this, the people who collect their feathers, start 

 in pursuit of them, the old birds being then busy 

 hatching and breeding their young. The feathers 

 are drifted on shore by the tide, and collected. The 

 produce is sold to dealers, who come from the neigh- 

 bouring towns of Oczakof and Cherson, and eagerly 

 bid against each other. Sometimes the quills will 

 fetch as much as three pounds per 1000, though the 

 usual price does not exceed twenty-two shillings. 

 They are also an article of trade amongst the 

 people of the Crimea, who live near extensive 

 morasses and marshes, as well as the peasants on 

 the coast of the Sea of Azof, in the direction of 

 Marapot. 



