12 
BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF SWANS. 
BREEDINGS- AND MANAGEMENT OF SWANS. 
Those who wish to make themselves acquaint- 
ed with the habits and dispositions, as well as the 
mere figures and descriptions of animals, should 
know that all living creatures cannot be divided 
into two distinct ranks of wild and tame, but that 
there is a most perplexing intermediate multitude, 
neither wild nor yet tameable, but usually spoken 
of as "familiar." or "half-domesticated," a term 
without meaning — dodging, like " squatters," on the 
offskirts of human society, but determined never to 
enlist in the drilled and disciplined ranks, playing 
the game of "off and on," but always ending with 
the " off." Such, among many others, are the part- 
ridge, rats and mice, and at a still greater distance, 
it is believed, is the whole genus of swans. 
Swans, then, are ferce nature to all intents and 
purposes 3 yet, although capricious birds, wild in 
their very nature, like most living creatures, they 
have some attachment to place. The first point, 
therefore, is to settle them agreeably in their des- 
tined home. Old birds are less likely to be con- 
tented with a new abode, unless very distant from 
The Swan.— Fig. 1, 
their former one. Cygnets may be procured every 
autumn ; if they have been put up to fat for some 
time so much the better, as they will the sooner 
become manageable, and content with a small range. 
The disadvantage of having cygnets to begin swan- 
keeping with is, that they are less ornamental till 
they have attained their perfect plumage, and the 
proper orange color of the bill, and that they do 
not breed till their third year. It is not, however, 
generally known that the male is capable of in- 
creasing his kind a year earlier than the female, so 
that a brood may be obtained from an old hen, and 
a cock bird in his second year. In selecting a pair, 
the great thing is to make sure of having two birds 
of opposite sexes. Two cock birds will not live 
together, and their mutual aversion would soon 
show that all was not right ; but two hens will — 
which is the case also with pigeons. 
In selecting any water birds whose plumage is 
alike in both sexes, and which cannot, therefore, 
be distinguished with certainty, the best rule is to 
see them in the water, and take that which swims 
deepest for the female, and that which floats with 
greatest buoyancy for the male, remembering that, 
as a general rule, all creatures of the masculine gen- 
der have the largest lungs in proportion to their 
size. The neck of the cock swan is usually 
thicker. An experienced eye will, besides, detect 
a certain feminine gentleness and modesty in the 
one, and an alacrity and boldness in the other, 
which is a tolerably safe guide, as well as an ap- 
propriate and becoming attribute to the creatures 
themselves. 
Supposing the reader to have obtained two cyg- 
nets that are not mere friends, but actually husband 
and wife, he will recollect that those reserved for 
fatting are never pinioned, lest it should check their 
progress, and he will request the operation to be 
performed before he has them home, in order that 
they may have the fewest possible disagreeable re- 
miniscences connected with the spot where they 
are to spend their lives. The amputation of the 
part of the wing which corresponds to our hand is 
quite sufficient to prevent the flight of the short- 
winged species, as far as migration is 
concerned, disfigures them less than the 
closer pruning, and still leaves them the 
means of escape from a dog, allows them 
now and then, in their gambols, to fancy 
they are free, and to enjoy a sort of half- 
run, half-fly, from the lawn into the water. 
Kindness, comfort, and good feeling must 
be employed to keep them at home as far 
as possible ; but the loss of the last wing 
will not be enough to prevent their flight. 
It is recommended that the female be pin- 
ioned at the wrist, the male at the elbow, 
trusting to their mutual attachment to 
keep the less-maimed bird from deserting 
her mate. But however it be done, let it 
be set about in a workmanlike manner; 
no chopping — no hacking — no hewing, 
nor butchering. Many cygnets are an- 
nually killed by the clumsy way in which 
their wing is lopped off. They suffer 
from the shock to their nervous system. 
A skilful operator will feel for the joint, 
divide the skin, and turn the bone neatly 
out of the socket. He should be allowed to shed 
just one drop of blood— no more. We would be as 
hard upon him as Portia was upon the flesh-cut- 
ting Jew. 
" This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood ; 
The words expressly are, a limb of swan ; 
Take then thy bond, take thou thy limb of swan ; 
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed 
One drop of cygnine blood, thy clumsiness 
Shall brand the name of 'Bungler' on thy back. 
Therefore, prepare thee to cut oft' the limb, 
Shed thou no blood ; nor cut thou less, nor more 
But just the very limb ; if thou tak'st more 
Or less, than just the limb, thou shalt bewail 
The consequence." 
If any brook runs into and from the pond where 
they are to remain, their escape through that chan- 
nel must be prevented by netting, hurdles, pales, or 
other fencing, which should be continued some dis- 
tance inland, lest they should walk away, if they 
cannot swim away. This precaution will be found 
particularly necessary if there is any main stream 
in the immediate neighborhood. A feeding trough 
