390 
erful weapons for striking down any enemy by 
whom it is attacked. The female breeds only 
once a-year, and lays in summer from five to six 
eggs. She prefers an islet as her breeding-place 
for sake of its quiet; and forms her nest by a 
simple surface deposition of a little straw; and 
sits about a month if the weather be fine, and 
longer if it be coarse. The young ones remain 
with her nearly a year; but are driven away by 
the old cob or male bird at the approach of the 
next breeding season; and they do not attain 
their full plumage till the third year. The cob is 
larger and bolder than the female; and two pairs 
seldom live peaceably or profitably together on 
the same pond or lakelet. The old birds often 
take a fancy to fly away at the fall of the year; 
and when not very perfectly domesticated, they 
require to be kept from roving by having the 
first joint of one wing removed. The domestic 
swan hisses when angry, and has a peculiar kind 
of snort, but no voice; and is therefore sometimes 
called the mute swan. 
The wild or whistling or black-billed swan, 
called by Linneus Anas cygnus, comprises seve- 
ral varieties or subvarieties, some one or more of 
which have frequently been mistaken for distinct 
species. It has a length of about 5 feet, and a 
breadth of about 7 feet, and weighs from 14 to 
17 pounds. Its bill is three inches long, and has 
a yellowish-white colour from the base to the 
middle, and a black colour from the middle to 
the end; its legs are black; its skin is clothed 
beneath the plumage with a thick fine down; 
and its general plumage, in the case of every 
full-grown individual, is either a perfectly pure 
white or a white tinged with yellowish-grey. It 
is externally very similar to the tame swan, but 
internally very different,—for its trachea bends 
over and penetrates to a considerable extent in 
a cavity of the keel of the sternum; and it owes 
to this configuration the power of uttering a 
wild shrill note when flying or calling; but it 
performs no melody,—and the old story of its 
singing on the approach of death is a fable. 
“ Wild swans,” we are told, “are inhabitants of 
the northern regions, never appearing in Eng- 
land but in hard winters, when troops of five or 
six are now and thenseen. Martin says, that in 
|| October, swans come to Lingay, one of the Wes- 
tern Isles, in great numbers, and continue there 
till March. A few stay in Mainland, one of the 
Orkneys, and breed in the little islands of the 
fresh water lochs; but the principal part of them 
retire at the approach of spring, and are considered 
the countryman’s almanack, the inhabitants ex- 
pecting a mild spring, when their departure is 
early. In countries where they may be consi- 
dered as natives, they generally keep together 
in small flocks, except in the pairing season, or 
at the setting in of winter; at the latter period 
they assemble in immense throngs, particularly in 
the extensive rivers and lakes of the thinly inha- 
bited northern part of Europe, Asia, and Ameri- 
SWAN. 
ca. At the commencement of frost the wild 
swans are said to associate in prodigious multi- 
tudes, and, thus united, to use every effort to 
prevent the water from freezing, by constantly 
dashing it with their extended wings; and by 
this means are enabled to remain in some fa- 
vourite part of a lake or river which abounds 
with food, so long as it suits their convenience; 
but when the severity of the weather threatens 
to become insupportable, high in air, in divided 
and diminished numbers, they shape their course 
in search of milder climates; and in such sea- 
sons they are most commonly seen in various 
parts of the British Isles, and in other more 
southern countries of Europe. In their flight 
the swans follow so closely that the bill of the 
one lies upon the tail of the other. The great 
bodies of them are, however, met with in the 
large waters near Hudson’s Bay, and those of 
Kamtschatka, Lapland, and Iceland. They are 
said to return to the latter place in flocks of 
about a hundred at a time in the spring; and 
also to visit that island from the north in nearly 
the same manner, on their way southward in the 
autumn. In Iceland these birds are objects. of 
chase, losing their feathers in August, so as to 
be unable to fly. The natives at that season 
come provided with dogs, and active horses, ca- 
pable of passing nimbly over the boggy soil and 
marshes, where they most resort. The swans 
will puzzle a tolerably quick horse to overtake 
them; but the greater numbers are caught by 
the dogs, that are taught to seize them by the | 
neck, which causes them to lose their balance, 
when they become an easy prey. Many are like- 
wise shot and killed with clubs. The Icelanders 
compare the voice or cry of the swan to the | 
notes of a violin; they hear it at the termination 
of their long and gloomy winter, when the re- 
turn of the swan announces the return of sum- 
mer; every note, therefore, must be melodious 
which presages a speedy thaw, and the release 
from their tedious confinement. The flesh is 
highly esteemed by the Icelanders (especially 
that of the young birds), insomuch that, summer 
or winter, no entertainment is deemed complete 
without a swan. Their eggs, of which they lay 
four, and hatch them in July, are also considered 
delicious food. The Icelanders, as well as the 
Kamtschatdales, and other natives of the nor- 
thern world, dress their skins with the down on, 
sew them together, and make them into gar- 
ments of various kinds; and the covering of the 
legs taken off whole is used for purses, and ap- 
pears not unlike shagrin. The northern Ame- 
rican Indians employ the skins in similar uses, 
and sometimes weave the down as barbers weave 
the cauls for wigs, and thus manufacture it into 
ornamental dresses for the principal women of | 
rank, while the larger feathers are formed into 
caps and plumes, to decorate the heads of their 
chiefs and warriors. They also gather the fea- 
thers and down in large quantities, and barter | 
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