THE OYQNET. 



SWANS. 



AiTHOtJGH these handsome birds bear some resemblance to the 

 geese and duck family, they have been by modem naturalists 

 separated from the rest of the genus Anas into a distinct group 

 of their own. There are six varieties of the swan known in 

 England : The Mute Swan, the Whooper or Whistling Swan, 

 the Bewick's Swan, the Polish Swan, and the Australian and 

 Chilian, or Peruvian Swan. The mute swan is the most com- 

 mon in this country, and it is this bird which is usually seen 

 on park-waters and pleasure-grounds. It is a large bird, 

 measuring four feet and a half in height, and seven feet from 

 the tip of one wing to the other. Its plumage, as is well 

 known, is snowy white. During the first year the feet are 

 black, in the second year they change to leaden-grey, and lastly, 

 reddish-grey. Jesse, in his " Gleanings," well describes the 

 habitat of the swans on the river Thajnes, with which birds my 

 readers are no doubt familiar. He says : — " Living on the 

 banks of the Thames, I have often been pleased with seeing 

 the care taken of the young swans by the parent birds. Where 

 the stream is strong, the old swan wiU sink herself sufficiently 

 low to bring her back on a level with the water, when cygnets 

 will get upon it, and ia this manner are conveyed to the other 

 side of the river, or into stUler water. Each family of swans 

 on the river has its own district ; and if the limits of that 

 district are encroached upon by other swans, a vindication of 

 local rights immediately takes place, and the intruders are 

 diiven away. Except in this instance, colonies of swans appear 

 •■o live in a state of the most perfect harmony. The male in 



