damage. Man made no preparation, the .Bird* did. Tn-
gtinct prevailed 'imst reason; her1;éggs IkK# abote?, $hd only
just above the water.
The young, when hatched, which is generally about
end of May, are conducted water by the parent .birds,
and are eVen said to be carried' there,: it is - certain that the
éygnets aró frequently carried oil the back of- the 'female' whpfi
she ^"sailing about in the water. - This I have witnessed On
the Thame^~-and ’ have "seen the female, by raising ‘herzeg,
assist the -cy^et® ^n^ gettihg'''upon Ibër -back. I thought it
probable that carrying the young' might onf^Mreso rted to
when the brood inhabited a river, to save the young'the
labour’of following the parent against the stream.;‘hut during
the present summer, 1841,-a female Swan was frexpi|ntly seen
canning her young on the-canal in St. Jam^sVFark, wht®§
fhere is no current to impede their course; ^ A short -quotation
from the first volume of “ Gleanings in ;NatUrSf His-
##y,Sl by Mr. Jê^sé|:otófobdrötës several póintsrin the habits
of this bird. Living on-the banks of the Thames, ! have
often been pleased with seeing- Ife 1 care takètCóf - the ’/ydfing
Swans fry the parent birds. Where- thflytreamris strong fee
old Swan will sink herself sufficiently lowf to bring' her hack
on a level with the water, when the éygnets will get- upon
it, and in this manner are Conveyed to- the other side*of the
river, or into stiller water. Each family ofrSwans on the
river has its own district; and if thé limits of that district
are encroached upon by other Swans, a pursuit immediately
takes place, and the intruders are* driven away. Except in
this instance, they appear to live in a state of the most per^
feet harmofiy. The male -if very attentive to thé female,
assists in making the neèt, and when a sudden rise of the
... * In the account óf the Green Wqpd^eekp, I have referred at vq|. ii. page
136, to the probable means hy, which birds and some other animals become
cognizant of approaching changes- in the weather.
f riveï takes'^lâeé^joins her with great assiduity in raising the
•'nést sufficiently high to' prevent the. eggs being chilled by
é te ‘ àufiet|i^i^he water,ithou^aometimes its rise is so rapid,
■ that 4-fce whole -nest is. washed away .and destroyed.”
•The to ^ociaheiihiough the winter, but
r%ÿden,tb^influence'©f^returningjspring the parent birds drive
away fyom them the; young.'brood p|tj the previous year and
oblige- them - ifev shift for 'th em s e ta v i Their v;-. flood consists of
the’ parts-of water plants,f rof)ts,iIaquatic insects, and
l^sceasionaly small .fish : -a Swan- Jbasjjfreep;., seen to eat a small
Upac-h ; fee^lsoiteat grain and bread.-
. The-. Swan b ^ag identified with, Orpheus, -and called also
the Bird- of- Apollo,-fee| g f e o f ■musicy powers of song have
been-often attributed to it, and as often denied. It is, how-
ever.rip”er-feetlyifcrue that this bird bas /a soft^Ifrw voice, rather
plaintive 'and with; little -variety, . but not disagreeable. I
have heard >it oâen.in the spring, and sometimes later in the
Reason, when moving slowly abpufewith its young. Colonel
Hawker,;in hfe sporting work*,at page 261,:has printed a few
bars of the “ Swan’s melody, formed with two notes, C and
•the minor third (E flat), andithe musician, it is said, kept
working bis-head as iMelighted with his. own performance.”
-These birds- are found wild in Russia and Siberia; and
Mr. Bennett .observes that it is found in a wild state in almost
-every country in Europe» Beehstein particularly men?-
tions Lithuania, Poland-, and eastern Prussia. In Germany,
young birds that have not been pinioned migrate in autumn.
M. Temminck says.it is abundant in Holland, and is found
in France, Provence, and Italy. Mr. Strickland says this
species visits Smyrna Bay in winter ; and the Russian naturalists
include it am.opg the birds found in the countries
between the Black and thè Caspian Seas. |
: In England, Dr. Turner notices the Swan with the black
tubercle on the beak, in his book on Birds, published in