MUTE SWAN. 185 



The weight of Bewick's Swan is about eleven or twelve pounds; hut varying with the 

 condition of the bird. 



Its lensrth is three feet ten inches. 



In this bird the trachea is also curiously convoluted in the keel of the sternum; it 

 enters the sternum outside the forked bone or merry-thought; the depth to which it pen- 

 etrates this bone varies with the age of the bird; increasing as it gets older, till it 

 reaches -within half an inch of its posterior extremity; it then returns and enters the 

 thorax: the two first divisions into bronchial tubes are very short. 



MUTE, OR TAME SWAN, (Cygnus olor, of authors.) 



This most graceful and ornamental bird has long been a semi-domesticated resident on 

 the lakes and sheets of water in the parks of our noblemen and country gentlemen; 

 and contributes greatly to the beauty of the scene. The time of its first introduction 

 into this country is unknown; but at a very early date it was regarded as royal pro- 

 perty, and various legislative enactments have at different times afforded protection to 

 this lordly bird; we have not space however to enter into details respecting these, and 

 must refer our readers to an article on the subject in the Penny Cyclopaedia, where 

 every necessary information is given, merely contenting ourselves with stating that the 

 crown grants to individuals or corporations the power of placing certain distinguishing 

 marks upon the beaks of these birds called Swan marks, by which each person's pro- 

 perty may be readily known. 



The Mute Swan is found wild in the whole of Europe, and probably Asia; breeding 

 in the high latitudes of Russia and Siberia. 



The Swan is esteemed as an article of food for the table, but it is only the young 

 birds of the year that are usually cooked, the old birds being hard and tough. The 

 Swan requires a good deal of judicious treatment on the part of the cook, to make it 

 the delicacy it is considered by some to be. 



Like the rest of its kind it is monogamus. 



The habits of the Tame Swan are too well known to require much notice from us. The 

 ornamental way in which it elevates its wing feathers, and arches its long neck when 

 on the water is well knoAvn, while its awkward action when on the land is equally a 

 matter of notoriety. 



During the period of incubation, and indeed until late in the autumn, the male 

 Swan becomes very fierce, and will with much boldness and violence, attack man or 

 beast coming into his domain. 



