400 THE MUTE SWWAN.—THE WHISTLING SWAN. 
The food of the Swan consists mostly of vegetable substances, and the 
bird can be readily fattenea on kariey, like ordinary o.luy. The young 
birds, called cygnets, 
ought not to be killed 
after November, as 
they then lose their 
fat, and the flesh be- 
comes dark and tough, 
The nest of the 
Swan is a very large 
mass of reeds, rushes, 
and grasses set upon 
the bank, close to the 
water, in some shel- 
tered spot. Generally 
the bird prefers the 
shore of a little island 
as a resting-place for 
is nest. Like other 
waeter-birds, the Swan 
will raise the nest by 
adding fresh material 
before the rising of the 
water near which it is 
THE MUTE SWAN.—(Ci onus olcr.) placed. There are 
generally six or seven 
eggs, large, and of a dull greenish white. The young are of a light bluish 
grey colour, and do not assume the beautiful white plumage until maturity. 
The mother is very 
watchful over her nest 
and young, and in 
company with her 
mate assaults any in- 
truder upon the pre. 
mises. During the 
first period of their 
life the young Swans 
mount on their mo- 
tler’s back, and are 
thus carried from one 
place to another. If 
in the water, the Swan 
is able to sink herself 
so low that the young 
can scramble upon her 
back out of the water; 
and if on land, she 
helps them up by 
means of one leg. 
The Hooper, ELK 
THE WHISTLING SWAN.—(Cygnus ferus.) SWAN, or WHISTLING 
SWAN, may at once 
be distinguished from the preceding species by the Shape and colour of the 
beak, which is slender, without the black tubercle, and is black at the lip 
and yellow at the base, the latter colour stretching as far as the eye. 
