ANATIDE. 417 
THE MUTE SWAN. 
Cycnus 6Lor (J. F. Gmelin). 
The Mute or Tame Swan is said to have been brought to England 
from Cyprus by Richard I. ; but be this as it may, the species is 
now generally distributed throughout the British Islands in a semi- 
domesticated condition, and of late years it has even been introduced 
in some of the Outer Hebrides, where it breeds, and the birds fly 
about as if wild. ‘There is a celebrated ancient swannery at Abbots- 
bury, in Dorsetshire ; large numbers inhabit the streams and broads 
of Norfolk ; and the presence of this handsome bird on the Thames 
and other waters must be familiar to every one. In Ireland it 
maintains itself on lakes and rivers in many counties, and it has 
been obtained as far west as Achill Island. 
The individuals which are occasionally shot during winter in 
Britain are often assumed to be some of our home-bred birds which 
have strayed from their usual haunts ; but such is not necessarily 
the case, for the Mute Swan still breeds in a perfectly wild state at 
no greater distance from us than Denmark and the south of Sweden, 
whence it is forced by cold to migrate in winter; while in a free 
(as well as in a half-protected) condition it is found in many parts 
of Germany, especially in East Prussia. Thoroughly wild birds nest 
KK 
