312 
YERTEBRATA. 
marked on the bills by men called Sivan- Uppers or Swan-Hoppers. There are also swanneries 
in other parts of the kingdom. At Norwich, according to Yarrell, the swans, about seventy in 
number, belong to the city, and are presided over by a public swanherd. The young birds are 
esteemed a great delicacy for the table. The following recioe is the standard guide for their 
cookery : 
TO ROAST A SWAK. 
Take three pounds of beef, beat fine in a mortar, 
Put it into the Swan — that is, when j-ou've caught her; 
Some pepper, sauce, mace, some nutmeg, an onion, 
Will heighten the flavor in gourmand's opinion. 
Then tie it up tight with a small piece of tape. 
That the gravy and other things may not escape. 
A meal paste, rather stiff, should be laid on the breast, 
And some whited brown paper should cover the rest. 
Fifteen minutes at least ere the Swan you take down. 
Pull the paste off the bird that the breast may get brown. 
THE GRAVY. 
To a gravy of beef, good and strong, I opine, 
You'll be right if you add half a pint of port wine ; 
Pour this through the Swan — yes, quite through the belly, 
Then serve the whole up with some hot currant-jelly. 
Bewick's Swan, C. Bewichii^ is nearly four feet long, and white, having somewhat the air 
air and manners of a goose on the water ; it is migratory, breeding in summer in the north of 
Europe, and spending the winter at the south. 
The Polish Swak or Changeless Swan, C. immutabilis, is another wild species, fifty-six 
inches long, plumage white, and in habits resembling the preceding. A male of this species paired 
with a female Mute Swan at Knowsley, and a hybrid brood was the result. These, however, did 
not pair either among themselves or with others. 
Formerly swans were all supposed to be white, and "white as a swan" was equivalent to " white 
as snow ;" but Australia, amid its anomalies, has furnished to natural history a Black Swan, C. 
atratus. It is nearly the size of the swans we have described, and has similar manners, but it is 
entirely black, except a few white feathers on the wings. It is abundant in Yan Diemen's Land, 
and along the Swan River country in AVestern Australia. 
The American Swan, C. Americanus, formerly supposed to be the same as the Hooper Swan 
of Europe, is about five feet five inches long, white, and breeds in the high northern regions of 
this continent. It is often seen in spring — the flock arranged in a triangular line, and high in 
air — winging its way to the distant lakes, where it builds its nest and rears its young. Many of 
these birds spend the winter as far north as Chesapeake Bay ; it is said to be abundant along the 
western shores of North America. 
The Trumpeter-Swan, C. buccinator, is fifty-three inches long, white, and has a harsh, trumpet- 
like note; habits similar to the preceding. It is this species which furnishes the swan-skins im- 
ported into London by the Hudson's Bay Company ; it is, however, chiefly known from the Mis- 
sissippi Yalley to the Pacific. 
THE ANSERIJfyE OR GEESE. 
Genus ANSER : Anser. — To this belong the principal species of Geese, which, as is well known, 
are migratory, move in flocks, and feed upon vegetable substances along the borders of salt as 
well as fresh waters. The Domestic Goose^ — Oie ordinaire of the French — is too familiar to need 
desci'iption. It is derived from the Gray Lag-Goose, the Common Wild Goose of Europe. It is 
not mentioned in the Bible, but it was known to the ancient Egyptians, and is figured abun- 
dantly on the monuments, showing that it was anciently used for food, as in our own times. It 
was held sacred by the Romans, because it was said, by its cackling at night, to have alarmed 
the sentinels of the Capitol upon the invasion of the Gauls, and thus to have saved the city. It 
is generally esteemed a foolish bird, yet it displays courage in defending its young, and instances 
of attachment and gratitude have shown that it is not deficient in sentiment. Its utility to man 
has rendered it an object of careful cultivation. The quantity raised in England is really astonish- 
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