54 
THE SWAN, 
bird is an old one, who will know his way well, and 
can take care of the rest ; and as they all fly from 
one mere to the next, he will cry out from time to 
time for the rest to hear, that none of them may 
be lost. 
The Wild Swan eats a kind of weed that lies on 
the top of the lake, and the Tame, or Mute, Swan 
will eat corn or seed as well, and has to be fed. 
The nest of both is made by the side of the pool^ 
in the reed beds, when they grow high, for the 
Swan does not like his nest to be seen, and will fly 
at any one who goes near it : and his bill is so hard 
that a blow from it will hurt very much. A kind 
of rush, also, will hang over the nest, and hide it, 
for the stem of this rush is very tall, and the leaf 
is very long, not at all like the kind you see by our 
pond. The Swan lays two eggs. It has a soft 
down next its skin ; I dare say you have seen this 
down ; we use it in many ways, but the Swan uses 
it to keep out the wet. 
