20G 
A S^YAN OF GREAT AGE. 
plants grew most freely ; they abounded in Warwickshire, Cam- 
bridgeshire, and Norfolk. Norwich is still famous for its Swans. No 
civic festival is complete without its Cygnet as a dish. AVhy, indeed, 
should not England become once more, as of old, a country of Swans ? 
The most beautiful of aquatic birds, it is also one of the greatest deli- 
cacies. With proper care, the Swan might ben*endered almost as 
common as the Goose ; and, besides getting rid of those subtle enemies 
under water (the aquatic weeds), a thousand tables might be glad- 
dened by the uncovering of a dainty Cygnet for the Christmas dinner. 
The most obvious difference between the Mute, half- 
domesticated Swan, and the wild species with which we are 
acquainted, is the bill of a rich reddish orange, the base and 
lore to the eye black, with a prominent black tubercle, or 
knob, on the upper part in front of the forehead. In the 
Hooper and Bev.dck's Swans the two most conspicuous 
colours of the beak occupy opposite situations, the anterior 
portion being red, and the base and lore yellow. The Polish 
Swan has a black base to the bill, but, like the other two 
last named, it has no tubercles. The young Mute Swan in 
July has a plumage of dark bluish grey, with a lead-coloured 
beak : it is not until after the second moult that they be- 
come quite white ; nor do they breed until their third year. 
Their nest consists of a large mass of reeds, rushes, and 
other coarse herbage ; it is formed on the ground, generally 
on an island near the edge of the water. The eggs are 
six or seven in number, of a dull greenish white. Incu- 
bation lasts six weeks, during which time the male attends 
assiduously upon the female, sometimes taking her- place 
on the nest. At such times he is very fierce and deter- 
mined, so that it is dangerous to approach the spot. 
Domesticated Swans often live to a very great age, as the 
following example, taken from the ^ Montrose Eeview/ will 
serve to show : — 
The other day, a male Swan which had seen many generations come 
and go, and witnessed the other mutations incident to the lapse of 
200 years, died at Rosemount. He was brought to Dunn when the 
late John Erskine, Esq., was in infancy, and was then said to be 100 
years old. About two years ago he was purchased by the late David 
Duncan, Esq., of Rosemount ; and within that period his mate brought 
forth four young ones, which he destroyed as soon as they took the 
water. Mr. Molleson, Bridge Street (in whose museum the bird is 
