THE SWAN. 
187 
indented with creeks and bays and ; as the country 
round is but thinly inhabited, wild birds abound. 
Amongst others, it is thronged with Swans, which 
select the long sandy headlands for the site of their 
nests. They assemble in numerous flights about 
these creeks, during the breeding-season. Aware 
of this, the people who collect their feathers, start in 
pursuit of them, the old birds being then busy 
hatching and breeding their young. The feathers 
are drifted on shore by the tide, and collected. The 
produce is sold to dealers, who come from the neigh- 
bouring towns of Oczakof and Cherson, and eagerly 
bid against each other. Sometimes the quills will 
fetch as much as three pounds per 1000, though the 
usual price does not exceed twenty-two shillings. 
They are also an article of trade amongst the 
people of the Crimea, who live near extensive 
morasses and marshes, as well as the peasants on 
the coasts of the Sea of Azof, in the direction of 
Marapot. 
