840 
BIRD-LIFE. 
Old birds are difficult to keep alive when captured. 
Swan shooting is a sport which is rarely successful, 
unless the rifle is used, and even then the birds often 
manage to evade pursuit by their caution and shyness. 
The gunner will be most successful if he uses a good 
sailing-boat, for they cannot rise with the wind, and 
must turn, therefore, towards the sportsman, who brings 
them down when on the wing. 
When the booty has been secured it is of some con¬ 
siderable value; for although it is true that the flesh is 
not worth much, still the plumage is valuable: wing- 
feathers, body-featliers, and especially the skin, with the 
down on, which is esteemed a very beautiful and warm 
article of dress for ladies,—all are useful. The down 
itself is scarcely less valuable than that of the Eider 
Duck, and forms excellent material for pillows and 
feather-beds. 
