186 
THE SWAN. 
ting on tier nest at one side of a river, when she 
observed a fox swimming from the opposite shore : 
rightly judging that she could encounter the enemy 
with much better chance of success on water than 
on land, instead of retreating, she boldly advanced to 
meet him, and dashing forwards, so battered him 
with her wings, that he was soon killed, in the sight 
of several persons who saw the combat. 
Besides the Swans above mentioned, there is an- 
other peculiar to Australia or New Holland, entirely 
black ; hut as they are tolerably hardy, it is not im- 
probable that they may in the course of a few years 
be naturalized in England, and form an additional 
ornament to the rivers and lakes of our parks and 
pleasure-grounds. We have already noticed the 
peculiar manner adopted by young Coots for con- 
cealing themselves under water ; and it has been 
ascertained, by those who have had opportunities of 
observing the habits of the Black Swan in its wild 
and natural state, that although it cannot dive, it 
contrives to immerse itself so deep in the water as to 
render its body nearly invisible, and thus avoid 
detection. 
We have already noticed the trade carried on in 
Goose quills ; those of Swans being, of course, pro- 
portionably larger, and less common, are still in 
request, and preferred by some ; consequently a con- 
siderable number find their way into the market, 
and fetch high prices. One of the principal sources 
of this trade is on the coast of the Black Sea, at its 
north-western extremity, in the neighbourhood of 
Kinbourn, a Russian fortress, nearly opposite to 
Oczakof, at the point of a tongue of land, deeply 
