A N SE RE S. ANATIDÆ
C y g n u s o l o r (Gmelin*).
THE MUTE SWAN.
Gygnus olor.
T h e most obvious difference, and that which will immediately
strike the observer on comparing the representation
of our Mute, half-domesticated Swan, with those of the
Wliooper and Bewick’s Swans, is, that the two most conspicuous
colours on the beak occupy opposite situations in
these species. In the Wliooper and Bewick’s Swans the
anterior portion of the beak is black, the base and the lore
to the eye, orange-yellow ; but in the Mute Swan it is the
anterior portion of the beak which is of a rich reddish-
orange, the base and the lore to the eye black, and on the
upper part of the forehead there is a prominent black
tubercle or knob, which in old males attains considerable
size.
* Anas Olor, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 501 (1788).
The male Swan has frequently been styled “ the peaceful
monarch of the lake ” ; but this is his character during
part of the year only; for during the season of incubation
and rearing the young there is scarcely any bird more pugnacious,
and from his great size and power he is in reality
a monarch to be feared and avoided by all that inhabit his
domain.
The nest, consisting of a large mass of reeds, rushes, and
other coarse herbage, is formed on the ground near the
edge of the water, and an island is generally chosen rather
than the bank. The female produces six or seven eggs ; *
these are of a dull greenish-white, averaging 4 inches by
2-8 in. Incubation lasts six weeks, during which time
the male is in constant attendance upon the female, occasionally
taking her place upon the eggs, or guarding her
with jealous care, giving chase and battle, if necessary, to
every intruder.
The young, when hatched, which is generally about the
end of May, are conducted to the water by the parent birds,
and are even said to be carried there : it is certain that the
cygnets are frequently carried on the back of the female
when she is sailing about in the water. This the Author
has witnessed on the Thames, and has seen the female, by
raising her leg, assist the cygnets in getting upon her back.
He thought it probable that carrying the young might only
be resorted to when the brood inhabited a river, to save the
young the labour of following the parent against the stream ,
but, during the summer of 1841, a female Swan was frequently
seen carrying her young on the lake in St. James s
Park, where there is no current to impede their course. A
short quotation from the first volume of ‘ Gleanings in
Natural History,’ by Mr. Jesse, corroborates several points
in the habits of this bird :—“ Living on the banks of the
Thames, I have often been pleased with seeing the care
taken of the young Swans by the parent birds. Where the