THE TAME, OR MUTE SWAN. 
597 
The Berhicle Goose ( Bernicla leucopsis) is occasionally found on our coast. A speci- 
men in the American Museum of Natural History, in Central Park, described by Mr. Lawrence, 
came from the North Carolina coast. 
The Emperor Goose ( Philacte canagica). This species is a handsome one, and inhabits 
the northwest coast of North America. 
The Black-bellied Tree Buck (: Dendrocygna autumnalis). This unfamiliar form 
inhabits Central and South America, and Southwestern United States. It is a slender-bodied 
bird, and seems to be at home on trees as well as elsewhere. 
Another species is Fulvous Tree Duck (D. fulva), which inhabits Central and South 
America, and reaches north as far as Arizona and California. 
The beautiful Swans now come before our notice. There are nine or ten species of these 
fine birds, which are well represented in Europe. 
Our most familiar species is the Tame or Mute Swak, so called from its silent habits. 
This elegant and graceful bird has long been partially domesticated throughout Europe, and 
enjoys legal protection to a great extent ; heavy penalties being proclaimed against any 
one who kills a Swan without a legal right. The Swan is presumed to be a royal bird, i.e. the 
property of the Crown, and only to be possessed by a subject under a special grant. To each 
license thus granted was attached a “swan mark,” which was cut on the upper mandible 
of the birds, in order to show the right of the owner. Swans of a certain age, not marked, 
become Crown property, except in some instance where a grant conveys the right to seize and 
keep any adult Swan which has not been marked. The “marks” are of endless variety, 
partly heraldic, and contrived so as to pain the bird as little as possible. The present royal 
mark consists of five diamonds, with rounded angles, two cut longitudinally at the base of the 
beak, and the other three transversely towards the tip. The mark granted to the University 
of Oxford is a cross with equal arms, each arm being again crossed near its extremity, and 
that of Cambridge is three buckles, one large in the middle of the beak, with the point towards 
the head, and the other two smaller at the tip, with their tongues pointing in different 
directions. 
The marking of the Swans is termed Swan-upping, a name which has been corrupted into 
Swan-hopping, and is conducted with much ceremony. The technical term of the Swan-mark 
is cigninota. Swan-upping, an old custom at European Courts, takes place in the month 
of August, the first Monday in the month being set aside for the purpose, when the markers 
of the Crown take count of all Swans in the river, and mark the clear-billed birds which have 
reached maturity. The fishermen who protect the birds and aid them in nesting are 
entitled to a fee for each young bird. The general mark is a notch on the one side of the beak. 
The food of the Swan consists mostly of vegetable substances, and the bird can be readily 
fattened on barley, like ordinary poultry. The young birds, called cygnets, ought not to be 
killed after November, as they then lose their fat, and the flesh becomes dark and tough. 
Sometimes the Swan will feed upon animal food, and has been seen to catch and swallow 
small fish, such as bleak and roach. In the spawning season the Swan is a terrible enemy 
to the fish, haunting all the spawning-grounds, and swallowing the eggs till it can eat no 
longer. The Swan will find out the spawn as it hangs on the submerged branches, and strip 
them of their valuable load. They will follow the carp to their breeding-grounds, and swallow 
their eggs by the quart, and in many cases they have almost entirely destroyed the fish which 
inhabited the pond or stream in which they live. 
A good idea of the damage done to anglers by the Swan may be formed from a forcible 
though unrefined description given by one of the piscatorial fraternity : “There never was no 
manner of doubt about the dreadful mischief the Swans do. They eats up the spawn of every 
kind of fish till they have filled out their bags, and then on to shore they goes, to sleep off 
their tuck out, and then at it again.” At such times the birds are so greedy after their feast 
that they can hardly be driven away, and will often show fight rather than leave the spot. 
