66 TEACHING THEIR YOUNG TO FLY (?) 

 attention. On nearing the margin of the pool 

 the whole party fold their Avings and plough 

 through the water until the impetus is spent ; 

 facing round they repeat the performance, 

 returning whence they came. This demon- 

 stration, which is repeated daily, has all the 

 appearance of a lesson in aviation. Beholders 

 exclaim : " Look at the swans teaching their 

 young ones to fiy ! " And it certainly does 

 look like it. But I believe that if the parent 

 swans could be interrogated, they would say : 

 " The object of this aquatic demonstration is 

 not to teach the youngsters how to fly, for that 

 knowledge would come to them in any case, 

 naturally ; but simply to get rid of them. 

 After a few trials we manage to get the cygnets 

 up into the air and then take them away to 

 the sea or the larger lakes, and if they attempt 

 to return, much as we love them, we are com- 

 pelled to drive them away ; for you will 

 observe that this piece of M'ater is of small 

 dimensions, and therefore not calculated to 

 maintain more than our two selves after the 

 winter has set in." 



And so it is, a pair of swans take possession 

 of a small lake or pond and make it their 

 home for life. If there is an island on the lake, 

 so much the better, it will surely be chosen as 

 a nesting site. 



