SWANS. 
337 
Mute Swan. 
North America possesses two representatives of this group of 
American Swans. , 0 x 
swans, namely, the American swan (0. columbianu-s), and the 
trumpeter swan ( C . buccinator), both of which have the windpipe folded. These 
two species have black beaks; but whereas in the former the number of tail- 
feathers is usually twenty, the beak is not longer than the head, and the naked 
skin of the lores generally shows a yellow spot; in the latter there are twenty- 
four tail-feathers, the beak is longer than the head, and there is no yellow on the 
lores. The trumpeter somewhat exceeds the whooper in size, whereas the other 
species is somewhat smaller. In defence of wounded companions the American 
swan is stated to display great affection, a number having been known to collect 
round a disabled bird and aid its escape by pushing it forward in the water and 
supporting its broken wing. In its southerly migration it collects in flocks of 
twenty or thirty, flying only when the wind is favourable, and then ascending to 
a great height in the air. The flock flies in the form of an elongated wedge; the 
rate of their progress being estimated at upwards of a hundred miles an hour. 
The mute swan of the Old World (C. olor ) indicates a second 
group of the genus, characterised by the relatively long and wedge- 
shaped tail, the presence of a large tubercle at the base of the beak, and the absence 
of a fold of the windpipe entering the breast-bone. In addition to these features, 
the mute swan may be recognised by the coloration of the beak, in which the base, 
together with the lores and tubercle, is black, while the terminal portion is orange- 
red; the coloration being therefore just the reverse of that met with in the 
whooper. In size the mute swan agrees with the latter; the tubercle of the bill 
attaining its greatest development in old males. Best known in the British Islands 
as a domesticated bird, there is little doubt that during the winter there are some 
wild visitants. The range of the species includes Europe and some portions of 
Asia, the breeding-area embracing South Sweden, parts of Germany, Russia, 
Transylvania, Turkestan, etc., while during winter these birds enter Northern 
Africa, Egypt, and North-Western India. While swimming, the mute swan is the 
most graceful of all its kin, being the one in which alone the neck is bent in true 
“ swanlike ” form. Deriving its name from the absence of any cry in the domestic 
race, it appears that wild birds trumpet like the whooper. The nesting-time— 
during which the male bird displays extreme pugnacity—takes place in May; the 
nests being generally built in association, and the number of eggs in each varying 
from five to eight. The only swannery in England is the one at Abbotsbury, near 
Weymouth, belonging to the Earl of Ilchester, where in 1880 there were upwards 
of fourteen hundred birds. This swannery, which dates from very ancient times, 
is situated on the estuary known as the Fleet, of which the upper portion is brackish 
while the lower parts are completely salt. In the breeding-season the nests cover 
a large area near the shore; and while some of the young birds remain to increase 
the numbers in the swannery, others wander out into the Fleet and become nearly 
wild. The severe winter of 1880-81 reduced the number of swans to about eight 
hundred, an average which has been since maintained. 
A considerable amount of discussion has taken place as to whether the so-called 
Polish swan (C. immutabilis), distinguished by the smaller size of the tubercle on 
the beak, the black edges to the gape, and the slaty legs, as well by the plumage 
VOL. IV.-2 2 
