WILD FOWL 
MUTE SWAN 
CYGNUS OLOR 
(Plate XXVII, Fig. 1) 
Cygnus mansuetus, Gould, Birds Europe, v, p. 354 (1837). 
Cygnus immutabilis. Dresser, Birds Europe, vi, p. 429, pi. 419, figs. 1 and 2 (1880). 
Cygnus olor, Dresser, Birds Europe, vi, p. 419, pis. 418, 419, figs. 5 and 6 (1880) ; Hume & 
Marshall, Game Birds Ind., iii, p. 41, pi.’ 5, fig. 2 (1880); Salvador!, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., 
xxvii, p. 35 (1895); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. Birds, part xxxv, pi. (1897); Saunders, III. Man. 
Brit. Birds, p. 417 (1899). 
DULT male. — ^Plumage pure white. The bill orange -red, only 
the nail, nostrils, lores and swollen tubercle at the base 
/ being black. Iris dark hazel. Legs, feet and membranes 
f" black. Total length about 60 inches; bill 4*2 inches; 
i wing 27*0 inches; tail 8*5 inches; tarsus 4*9 inches. 
^ Adult female. — Similar to the male, but smaller, and the 
tubercle at the base of the bill not nearly so large. 
Young in first autumn-plumage. — ^Brownish -grey above, paler below. Bill 
dull leaden-grey, with the nostrils and the basal marginal band black. 
Young in down. — Usually sooty-grey above, paler below, but sometimes 
almost or entirely white. Bill very dark leaden-grey; nail black; legs 
dull blackish -grey. 
General distribution. — ^The mute swan breeds in Southern Scandinavia, 
Denmark, North Germany, Central and Southern Russia, and on the 
Lower Danube; also commonly in the neighbourhood of the Black and 
Caspian Seas, and eastwards in Turkestan and Mongolia. In winter it 
is found in the Basin of the Mediterranean and migrates to North Africa, 
where it is a regular visitor to the lakes of Algeria and Egypt, and occa- 
sionally wanders to North-west India. 
Distribution in the British Isles. — In the British Isles it was originally 
introduced and is now generally distributed in a semi -domesticated 
condition. 
Nest and eggs. — ^The nest, like that of the other swans, is a large structure 
of dead reeds and aquatic herbage. The number of eggs laid varies accord- 
ing to the age of the female, younger birds laying clutches of from three to 
five eggs, while older birds lay as many as ten or twelve. The eggs are 
greyish-green, and measure about 4*0 by 2 *9 inches. The period of in- 
cubation varies from 35 to 39 days. 
RR 305 
