ANSERIFORMES. 365 



in abundance in India. The white-fronted goose may also have 

 been in some way connected with our present stock ; but that 

 the grey lag is the chief originator of the Toulouse, Embden, and 

 other geese there is very little doubt. Geese imder domestica- 

 tion commence to lay in February and March, and may deposit 

 as many as eighteen eggs, but that is above their average. The 

 young goslings appear about the twenty-ninth to thirtieth day 

 after incubation commences. Although wild geese sometimes 

 do harm in this country, they cannot be said to be of much im- 

 portance to the agriculturist ; but domestic geese are thus im- 

 portant, not only on account of their value, but for the good 

 they can do in exterminating grubs and vermin in the soil in 

 orchards, &c. 



Swans (Ctgnds). 



Swans have a long slender neck, with sixteen cervical 

 vertebrse. The bill is higher than wide at the base and 

 depressed at the tip, and both mandibles are furnished with 

 serrated lamellae along their sides. The male and female 

 cygnus are alike in plumage. The commonest swan in England 

 is the Mute Swan (C. olor), which is said to have been intro- 

 duced from Cyprus by Eichard I. It is now found abund- 

 antly not only semi-domesticated but wild. The Swans pair 

 for life, and breed on islands, amongst reeds, &c., in May. 

 The nests are large structures built of reeds and rushes. Four 

 eggs are laid by young females, who commence to breed in 

 their second year as a rule ; older females may lay as many as 

 ten eggs, of a dull greenish-white colour, nearly four inches 

 long. The period of incubation is between thirty-six and forty 

 days, the young " cygnets " being looked after by the parents 

 for some time, generally until next breeding season. The 

 cygnets are sooty-grey, with a dull grey-coloured bill. The food 

 of Swans consists of water-plants, aquatic insects, and grain. 



