length of leg and neck, which have induced some authors to class them
with the Wading Birds, are, both in their general structure and mode of
life, most undoubtedly to be regarded as members of the present order,
and are, as their internal anatomy teaches, very nearly related to the
Swans. Their body is slenderly built, neck very long, head large, and
the wings, in which the second quill is the longest, of moderate length;
the tail, which consists of twelve feathers, is remarkably short. The
peculiarly constructed beak is somewhat longer than the head, higher
than broad, but thick and bent down towards the middle, at an obtuse
angle. The upper mandible, which is much smaller and feebler than
the lower, is remarkably flat; both mandibles are provided at their
circumference with the lamellated sieve-like structure characteristic of
the _Lamellirostres_. The whole apparatus very much resembles a box, of
which the lower jaw forms the body, while the upper mandible constitutes
the lid. This extraordinary bill is covered with soft skin, but is hard at
its apex, and towards its base presents a soft cere. The legs, which are
most disproportionately long and slender, are denuded of feathers for a
considerable distance above the heel; the three front toes are of moderate
length, and connected by a broad, slightly-excavated web. The hind toe,
which is considerably elevated, is short and feeble. The thick, compact,
soft plumage is beautifully coloured, and is exactly comparable to that
of other Swimming Birds. The internal structure of the Flamingo has been
carefully studied by Wagner, and found to correspond in every particular
with that of the Ducks (_Anatidæ_). Naturalists are at present acquainted
with about half a dozen species belonging to this group, and although the
history of some of them is far from complete, enough is known to induce
us to believe that in their mode of life they differ in no respect from
the species with which we are best acquainted. These remarkable birds
are widely distributed over the warmer portions of the globe, and are
met with principally in Asia, Africa, and South Europe. According to the
accounts of both ancient and modern writers, they make their appearance
every year in great numbers in the vicinity of the lakes of Sardinia
and Sicily, as also in Albufera de Valencia, and other parts of Spain.
Along the coasts of Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, they
are abundant, as also in Smyrna, and near the banks of the Volga, but
are very rarely met with in Greece. Occasionally a few stragglers have
been seen as far north as the banks of the Rhine; generally speaking,
however, the south coast of Europe must be regarded as their northern
limit, and North Africa and Central Asia as their usual habitat. Those
species that inhabit the Western Hemisphere are likewise confined within
corresponding limits. Lakes of salt or brackish water in the vicinity of
sea-coasts are the favourite resorts of the Flamingoes. To lakes of fresh
water they are only casual visitants, and never resort to them for any
length of time. On the other hand, they are always very abundant on the
sea-coast, more especially where the shores are flat and swampy. All are
birds of passage, and the migrations of some occur with such regularity
that the period of their return may be predicted with tolerable accuracy.
According to Cetti, Flamingoes appear in Sardinia about the middle of
August, and depart thence in March or the beginning of April. In South
Italy they are stationary, remaining in the same locality all the year
round. Only those who have had the good fortune to see these birds
assembled in flocks, consisting of many thousands, can form an adequate
idea of the beauty of their appearance. "Looking from Cagliari to the
sea," says Cetti, "it seemed to be banked in with a wall of red bricks,
or to be covered with countless numbers of roses. On nearer approach
these proved to be Flamingoes ranged in regular ranks. Aurora herself
was never adorned with more roseate tints than the wings of these birds,
they seemed literally to glow with pink and carmine. The name of the
Flamingo, both in Greek and Latin, was derived from the magnificent hues
of their glorious wings, and the French in the epithet _flammant_ only
repeat the same idea. The first impression produced by such a spectacle
is not easily to be forgotten; the birds stood in ranks, not merely of
thousands, but literally of hundreds of thousands, ranged in interminable
array. As the sunlight played upon the dazzling white and glowing red, the
effect was indescribable; at length, taking alarm at something, the whole
body of them rose into the air, displaying their wings to still greater
advantage, as they formed themselves into an immense wedge-shaped phalanx,
and winged their way far up into the blue sky." When standing quietly
upon the shore, the appearance of these birds very much resembles that
of an army drawn up in order of battle; the Cingalese call them "English
soldier birds," the South Americans simply "soldiers," and indeed not
without cause, for, as Humboldt informs us, the inhabitants of Angostura,
soon after the establishment of that colony, were one day thrown into a
state of great alarm by the sudden appearance of what they took to be a
numerous army, and it was only when the supposed enemy took flight to the
shores of the Orinoco, that they discovered their mistake. A solitary
Flamingo is very rarely seen, never perhaps before the commencement of the
pairing season, and even then it must be some young bird that has strayed
by accident from its fellows. Usually they keep together in flocks, and
carefully avoid any locality where danger might be apprehended. Open
waters are usually selected as their fishing-place, and should a boat
approach they at once take flight whilst it is still far off, so that it
is by no means easy to observe their proceedings, except with the aid of
a telescope. In general they may be seen with their legs immersed in the
water, or more rarely on the dry shore or on sandbanks with their necks
curved in a very peculiar manner (see page 116) in front of the breast,
the head being laid as it were upon the back, or buried beneath the
shoulder-feathers of the wing; generally the whole weight of the body is
supported by one leg, the other being held obliquely backwards or drawn
up close to the body; in this strange position the Flamingo sleeps. The
manner in which these birds obtain their food is equally remarkable. Like
all other sieve-beaked birds, the materials upon which they subsist are
procured by raking in the mud. The Flamingo when in search of food, wades
into the water to a convenient depth, and then bends down its long neck
until its head is upon the same level as its feet; it then plunges its
beak, with the upper mandible downwards, into the mud. In this position
the bird rakes about at the bottom of the water, moving backwards and
forwards with short steps, and opening and shutting its bill whilst its
tongue is busily at work. In this manner, by the delicate sense of touch
resident in that member, the Flamingo examines the contents of its mouth,
retaining what is useful as food, and straining out through the sieve-like
apparatus the mud or non-nutritive materials with which it is accompanied.
Meanwhile, by the movements of its webbed feet, it is continually stirring
up the bottom, and thus putting in motion all the little aquatic animals
of which it is in search. The gait of the Flamingo very much resembles
that of the Long-legged Waders, but is not exactly similar, although the
difference is not easily described. Its steps are longer, more regular,
and more vacillating, as might be expected from the extraordinary length
of its legs, but at the same time its movements are easy, and differ
widely from the accounts given of them by some writers, who tell us that
when walking it is compelled to help itself along by its beak. Its beak,
however, is occasionally employed to assist it in its movements, as for
example, when having bent its legs under its body it lies down upon the
ground to rest, and is suddenly obliged to rise from this position, the
bill is employed to assist in getting up, but this once accomplished
it runs away with tolerable speed in the manner above described. When
taking flight from the sea or lake in which it has been feeding, it not
unfrequently goes to a considerable distance, half running and half
flying over the surface of the water, much after the manner of a Duck or
Water-hen. In deep water it also swims apparently without the slightest
effort, and although its progress may be somewhat slower than that of the
Short-legged Swimmers, it is evidently more enduring. Its flight, when
once it has raised itself out of the water in the manner above described,
is light and tolerably rapid, the quick strokes of its wings producing
a noise not unlike that which accompanies the flight of Ducks and Wild
Geese, indeed, the sound made by the rising of a whole flock has been
compared to distant thunder. When fairly on the wing a flying Flamingo
could not be mistaken for any other bird, even by the most unpractised
novice. Unlike the generality of long-necked birds, it stretches not only
its long legs, but its neck straight out, thus presenting an appearance
of extraordinary length and slenderness; so that, with its narrow wings
exactly in the centre, it assumes pretty much the shape of a cross. When
flying together in considerable numbers, the flock, as we have already
said, arrange themselves in regular phalanx, either in one long line, or
in a wedge-shape like that of the letter V. When descending from a great
height, their flight assumes a spiral direction, but just before alighting
they sweep forward for a little distance over the water until they find
a suitable spot whereon to settle. The loud harsh voice of these birds
somewhat resembles that of a Goose. The food of the Flamingo consists
principally of water-snails, worms, crustaceans and small fishes, but it
by no means despises vegetable substances, and in a state of captivity
will eat boiled rice, corn, or soaked bread. Our information concerning
the breeding of these birds is not very satisfactory. Labat many years ago
gave a very strange description of their mode of incubation, which was
subsequently contradicted by Dampier; and later writers have contented
themselves with copying these accounts without ascertaining their
accuracy. Dampier informs us that "the Flamingoes build their nests where
plenty of dirt is procurable. This dirt they rake together by means of
their feet, so as to form a hillock, which stands like a little island, a
foot and a half above the water, each hillock being of a conical shape,
and having a depression at the top, on which the nest is placed." Labat
states that the hillocks are solid, as high as the surface of the water,
but that above this point they are hollowed like a basin, and that when
the birds lay or incubate their eggs, they place themselves upright, not
upon the hillock, but close to it, with their feet upon the ground, in
such a manner, that leaning against the hillock they cover the nest with
their tail. Naumann in the strongest terms refuses to believe either of
the above accounts, and from our own observations on the living birds we
ourselves quite acquiesce in the doubts he expresses. It is true we have
never seen a Flamingo actually engaged in incubating; but at Mensala,
in Egypt, where we obtained a full-grown egg from the oviduct of a dead
female, we procured the following information concerning the mode of
incubation. The Flamingo makes her nest in shallow places in the water,
or, as the Arabs assert, upon flat insular spots, overgrown with low
vegetation. In the first case the nest is a conical heap of mud scraped
together by the feet of the bird, and raised so high that its top is a
foot and a half above the water. In the second case it consists of a mere
hollow trough, scooped out in the soil and lined with sedge, rushes,
grass, and similar materials. The number of eggs laid is generally two,
occasionally three. Their shape is elongated, and their shell smooth and
of chalky whiteness. The bird when brooding most undoubtedly sits upon her
eggs in the usual manner, bending her legs beneath her, and lying flat
upon the nest. The duration of incubation is stated to be from thirty to
thirty-two days. The young when hatched immediately betake themselves to
the water, and swim from the day of their birth. They soon learn to run,
but are not capable of flight till a lapse of several weeks. The chase
after Flamingoes requires considerable caution. In the daytime they are so
timid that it is almost impossible to get within gunshot of one of their
numerous assemblages, seeing that while feeding they invariably station
some of the older members of the flock to warn them of the approach of
danger. The Arabs informed us, however, that they may be procured in
considerable numbers by a very simple contrivance. The plan adopted in
Egypt is to suspend ordinary fishing-nets between two boats, and in this
manner to sail directly towards the sleeping-place of the birds; thus
suddenly awakened, the Flamingoes fly against the nets, in which they are
easily captured, and in this manner fifty or sixty are sometimes taken
at once. The fishermen on the Lake of Mensala adopt a still stranger
plan: after having, by carefully watching a flock, discovered where the
sentinels are placed (the latter always remain bolt upright, whilst the
rest of the flock sleep with their heads under their wings), a naked
fisherman, having his head covered with a bundle of grass or reeds, swims
or creeps towards the unsuspecting birds, and suddenly seizing the sentry,
plunges his head under water, and breaks his neck before an alarm can
be given. The sleepers then become easy victims. This latter account we
should certainly not have credited without corroborative evidence. In
North Egypt, however, dozens of these beautiful birds may be seen exposed
for sale in the markets, where they are eagerly bought for the table;
their flesh is excellent, and quite devoid of the oily flavour which we
fully expected would have rendered it unpalatable.
* * * * *
The SWANS (_Cygni_), from their proud looks and majestic demeanour, must
ever hold a conspicuous position in the order to which they belong.
Their imposing size and elegant appearance at once rivet attention, and
closer examination shows that amongst Lamellirostral birds they form a
sharply-defined group, easily distinguishable from the Ducks and the
Geese, with which they have been sometimes associated. Their body is
elongated, their neck very long, and their head moderate. Their beak
is straight, of equal breadth throughout, rounded in front, and at its
base naked and protuberant. The upper mandible is flatly vaulted above,
and terminates anteriorly in a roundish nail. The length of the beak
is pretty nearly the same as that of the head; the legs are short, and
placed very far back; the middle toe is longer than the tarsus, and
the hinder toe, which is small and feeble, is so much elevated that in
walking it does not reach the ground; while the web connecting the three
front toes is remarkably broad and complete. In the construction of the
wing, the relative proportions between the bony framework and the quills
is deserving of notice, the former being very long, the latter somewhat
short, while the primary quills, of which the second is the longest, are
scarcely longer than the secondaries and the tertiaries. The tail consists
of eighteen or twenty graduated feathers. On the under surface the plumage
is thick and fur-like; on the upper side, on the contrary, the feathers
are broad; but everywhere, both above and below, the body is richly
covered with down.
With the exception of the equatorial regions of our globe, Swans are to
be met with in every climate, but they principally abound in temperate
and cold latitudes. In Asia and Europe three species are met with, which
occasionally extend their winter visits as far as North Africa. Two of
these species are likewise met with in America, together with several
others that are peculiar to that continent; while at least one other very
conspicuous species is an inhabitant of Australia. The extent over which
these several kinds are spread is very considerable, and their migrations
extend over a great distance. All the species are migratory, but by no
means all the individuals belonging to each, seeing that there are many
of them whose residence is within the limits of the temperate zone, that
remain all the year round in the same locality, or at all events, content
themselves with wandering to some place not very far remote from their
usual residence.
The following interesting account of the migrations of these birds is
given by Franklin: "About the first of September the Swans leave the
Polar Sea, and resort to the lakes and rivers in and about the latitude
of Hudson's Bay; there they remain till October, preparing for their
departure for the winter, when they collect in flocks of from twenty to
thirty, and seizing a favourable opportunity, with the wind not opposed
to the direction of their flight, they mount high in the air, form a
prolonged wedge, and with loud screams depart for more genial climes.
While making either their semi-annual transmigration, or on shorter
expeditions, an occasional scream, equal to, 'How do you all come on
behind?' issues from the leader, which is always replied to by some
posterior Swan with an 'All's well!' vociferation. When the leader of the
party becomes fatigued with his extra duty of cutting the air, he falls
into the rear, and his neighbour takes his place. When mounted, as they
sometimes are, several thousand feet above the earth, with their delicate
outline scarcely perceptible against the clear blue of heaven, this harsh
sound, softened and modulated by distance, and issuing from the immense
void above, assumes a supernatural kind of tone."
The permanent habitat of the Swans is always upon large lakes of fresh
water, or in marshy situations where fresh water is abundant. During
their migrations, however, they take up a temporary residence on water
of any kind. Their nests are generally placed on rivers or fresh-water
lakes, but probably this is only on account of the shallowness of such
situations, as after the breeding season some betake themselves to the
sea, or wherever food is most abundantly procurable. The Swans are only
active in the day, and even their migrations are never carried on by
night. In their locomotive capabilities they surpass most other Swimming
Birds. Their domain is the water, and it is only unwillingly that they
ever venture on dry land; nor do they readily take wing, unless compelled
to do so by unavoidable necessity. The very backward position of their
legs renders walking on land difficult, so that when on dry ground
their gait is heavy and vacillating. Their flight apparently requires
considerable effort, more especially when they attempt to rise from the
surface of the water; when, however, they have gained a certain altitude,
it is extremely rapid. It would appear almost impossible for these
birds to rise from the ground, and they never venture to alight on dry
land. When beginning their flight from the water, they always stretch
out their necks horizontally to their full length, striking the surface
with their wings, and splashing with their broad-soled feet; and thus,
half flying and half walking, they proceed for a distance of from forty
to eighty feet, before they can acquire impetus to enable them to mount
into the air. When, however, this is once accomplished, their movements
are perfectly easy and free. When alighting from their flight they glide
obliquely downwards to the water, and when they have nearly reached it,
spread out their webbed feet to stay their headlong career, and moderate
the shock of their descent. As relates to their vocal powers, different
species of Swans vary considerably; some appear to be mute, but generally
speaking their cry may be said to have somewhat the sound of a trumpet,
and much resembles the voice of the Cranes. Some commonly, however, only
utter a loud hissing or a low muttering noise; in other species, on the
contrary, the voice is loud and powerful, and somewhat varied, so that
when heard from a distance its effect is by no means disagreeable. The cry
of the male is always louder and of a deeper tone than that of the female.
The young "pipe," like young Geese. The manners of Swans are gentle, and
rather shy, nevertheless they exhibit a certain degree of vanity and
consciousness of power, often manifested in their domineering behaviour
towards other Water-fowl. Only those of the same species associate in
large numbers, and they seem particularly jealous of intruders. The
matrimonial engagements of these birds are kept with exemplary fidelity,
and last throughout their lives. No sooner have they paired, than the
happy couple begin to show the tenderest affection towards each other,
manifested by innumerable graceful caresses; they swim together with
indefatigable constancy, and should danger approach defend each other with
the utmost courage and self-devotion. Their care for their young progeny
is equally remarkable. Although the male does not himself actually take a
share in the duties of incubation, all his energies seem to be devoted to
the protection of his mate during her patient retirement, and he may at
such times always be seen, either swimming proudly and defiantly around
her, or reposing in the immediate vicinity of the nest, as though to cheer
her confinement by his presence. Although the labour of nidification seems
to devolve principally upon the female, she is eagerly assisted by her
mate, whose employment seems chiefly to be the procuration of materials,
which he supplies abundantly, dragging them with his beak, sometimes from
a considerable distance, or pushing them before him in heaps towards
the selected locality. The nest, when completed, is a very large but
inartistically constructed pile, composed of all sorts of water plants,
confusedly heaped together, but surmounted with a finer covering of sedge
grass and other softer materials. The place chosen for the situation of
the nest is generally some small island, and its size such that it would
float even with the weight of its occupants upon it. In this capacious
cradle the female Swan lays from six to eight thick-shelled eggs, of a
dirty white, or dirty pale green colour, from which, after the lapse of
five or six weeks, the young brood make their escape. When first hatched
the Cygnets are pretty little creatures, warmly clad in a thick covering
of down; after having remained in the nest for a day or so, they venture
out and trust themselves upon the water. Sometimes the mother carries them
upon her back, sometimes takes them beneath the shelter of her wings,
and always watches over them with the greatest tenderness and anxiety,
until they are able to take care of themselves. No sooner, however, are
they completely fledged, than they finally separate themselves from their
parents, never to see them again; for should they next year make their
appearance in the same locality, they would at once be driven away, and
treated as any other intruders. The food of the Swans is very diversified,
consisting of such vegetables of various kinds as grow in ponds and
marshes, roots, leaves, and seeds, beetles and their larvæ, worms, snails,
tadpoles, and fishes; anything, in short, that affords nourishment. They
are not so strictly vegetable feeders as the Geese, neither are they so
carnivorous as the Ducks, but in this respect they seem to occupy a middle
position between the two. Their food is principally obtained at the bottom
of the pond, which, owing to the length of their necks, they are able to
reach, even in water of considerable depth; and here they gather aquatic
plants, or, straining the mud through their sieve-like jaws, extract such
nutriment as it affords.
As the Wild Swans, owing to their great size and strength, are well able
to defend themselves against ordinary assailants, they have few enemies to
fear, with the exception of the larger Eagles and of the arch-destroyer,
man himself, who wages constant war against them, partly on account of
their flesh, which affords excellent food, and partly for their feathers
and down, the latter of which in particular is extremely valuable.
The chase after these birds, however, requires considerable skill and
perseverance, owing to their extreme watchfulness and the rapidity of
their flight. In the north they are generally pursued in a boat whilst
they are swimming in the water; the sportsman taking advantage of a high
wind, and then steering with all sail directly towards them, in this
manner he is sometimes able to approach them so closely as to get them
within range of his gun, more especially as they always prefer to fly
right against the wind. In Algeria, as Buvry informs us, they are taken in
the same manner as the Flamingoes, by wading towards them under cover of
floating herbage, or they are often captured on the shores of sheltered
bays by means of hooks, and lines of camel's hair, baited with bread,
flesh, or fish. When the bird has swallowed the bait, says Buvry, it
must perforce remain quiet until the hunter comes to rescue it from its
unpleasant position.
THE MUTE SWAN.
The MUTE SWAN (_Cygnus olor_), the species so frequently seen in this
country living upon our ornamental water in a state of semi-domestication,
and sometimes described by writers as the "Tame Swan" (_Cygnus mansuetus_)
is, in its wild state, an inhabitant of Northern Europe and Northern
Asia, more especially of Eastern Siberia, and is easily recognisable by
the callous protuberance at the base of its bill. Its body is elongate,
its neck extremely long and slender, and its bill, which is nearly of the
same length as the head, of a red colour, surmounted at its base with the
black knob-like protuberance above alluded to. The plumage of the adult is
white, that of the young grey, or occasionally white. The eye is brown,
the beak red, while the bridles and protuberance at the base of the beak
are black; the feet brownish or pure black. This bird is seventy inches
long, and one hundred inches broad; the length of the wing is twenty-seven
inches, and of the tail ten to eleven inches; the female is not quite so
large. Brehm is of opinion that the Polish Swan (_Cygnus immutabilis_)
of Yarrell, is merely a variety of the above species, but the following
extract from a paper, read by Yarrell before the Zoological Society, will
give our readers that naturalist's reasons for maintaining that these
birds are not identical, although in their appearance, habits, and mode of
life, they closely resemble each other. "The London dealers in birds," he
says, "have long been in the habit of receiving from the Baltic a large
Swan which they distinguish by the name of the Polish Swan. During the
severe weather of January, 1838, several flocks of these Polish Swans
were seen pursuing a southern course along the line of our north-east
coast, from Scotland to the mouth of the Thames, and several specimens
were obtained. The circumstance of these flocks being seen without any
observable difference in the specimens obtained, all of which were
distinct from our Mute Swan; the fact also that the Cygnets, as far as we
observed, were of a pure white colour like the parent birds, and did not
assume at any age the grey colour borne for the greater part of the first
two years by the young of the other species of Swans; and an anatomical
distinction in the form of the cranium, which was described by Mr. Pelerin
in the _Magazine of Natural History_, induce me to consider this Swan as
a distinct species, and in reference to the unchangeable colour of the
plumage, I proposed for it the name of _Cygnus immutabilis_."
As additional peculiarities of this species, Yarrell notes that "the
parent birds were remarkable in having the legs, toes, and their
intervening membranes, of a pale ash-grey colour. The black tubercle at
the base of the beak was of small size, and there was a slight difference
in the nostrils, the elongated openings of which did not reach the black
colour at the base of the beak." The Mute Swan, as it has erroneously been
called from the fact of its possessing a soft voice very unlike the harsh
tones of its wild brethren, utters a somewhat monotonous and plaintive
call during the spring, or occasionally later in the season when moving
about with its young. Col. Hawker, in his "Sporting Notes," describes this
"Swan's melody" as consisting of two notes, C and the minor third E flat,
adding that the musician he heard kept working with his head, as though
delighted with the sounds he was producing. In England, where these birds
live in a state of semi-domestication, they are met with at all seasons.
During the period of incubation they live in pairs, and jealously drive
away all intruders from the domain they have appropriated for the purpose
of building. The nest, which is formed of a mass of reeds and rushes, is
placed near the edge of the river or pond, or on an island, and by a most
wonderful instinct is frequently raised to a height sufficient to escape
a rising of the water even before man himself has observed any indication
of such a danger. The eggs are six or seven in number, and have a dull
greenish white shell; their length is about four inches by two inches nine
lines broad. During the whole period of incubation, which lasts about six
weeks, the male is in constant attendance to guard his spouse, boldly
chasing off all intruders, and occasionally taking his place upon the
nest. When first hatched, the young follow the mother about in the water,
and are frequently carried on her back as she sails along the stream.
Speaking of these birds in their wild state, Lloyd says, "In flying they
make a strange appearance; their long necks protrude, and resemble at a
distance long lines with black points; their heavy bodies and triangular
wings seeming mere appendages to the prolonged neck. When thus in motion,
their wings pass through so few degrees of a circle that, unless seen
horizontally, they appear almost quiescent, their movements being widely
different from the semicircular sweeps of the Goose. The Swan, when
migrating, with a moderate wind in its favour, and mounted high in the
air, travels at the rate of one hundred miles or more an hour. I have
often timed the flight of the Goose, and found one mile a minute a common
rapidity, and when the two birds, in a change of feeding ground, have been
flying near each other, the Swan invariably passed with nearly double
the velocity." The Mute Swan was first brought to England from the island
of Cyprus by Richard I., and is still regarded as a royal bird which no
subject can claim when kept in a public river, except by permission of
the crown. Formerly, when this permission was accorded, a Swan mark was
granted in order to identify the property of the persons so endowed. In
the days of Queen Elizabeth it was ordered that all Swans in the Thames
and its tributaries should be "upped," _i.e._, taken up and marked on
the skin of the bill on an appointed day in the presence of the king's
Swanherd. This ceremony, known to us as "Swan hopping," was performed
annually, until quite recently, upon the first Monday in August. The flesh
of this Swan was formerly highly esteemed, and was served as one of the
principal dishes on state occasions. The value of one of these birds in
the reign of Edward III. may be estimated by the fact, that while the
best Capon sold for sixpence, the best Hen for fourpence, and twelve eggs
for one penny, the price of a Swan was fixed at four shillings, and the
poulterers were forbidden by proclamation to exact a larger sum. The late
Bishop of Norwich gave Mr. Yarrell the following account of the manner in
which young Swans were formerly fed at Norwich for the table: "The town
clerk," he says, "sent a note to the public Swanherd, and to the members
of the Corporation there who had Swans and Swan rights. On the second
Monday in August the Swans were collected in a small stew or pond (the
number varying from fifty to seventy). They began to feed immediately,
being provided with as much barley as they could eat, and were usually
ready for killing in November; these were all Cygnets. If kept beyond
November they begin to fall off, losing both flesh and fat, the flesh also
becomes darker in colour and stronger in flavour." A printed copy of the
following lines was usually sent with each bird:--
"TO ROAST A SWAN.
"Take three pounds of beef, beat fine in a mortar,
Put it into the Swan, that is when you've caught her;
Some pepper, salt, mace, some nutmeg, an onion,
Will heighten the flavour in Gourmand's opinion.
Then tie it up tight with a small piece of tape,
That the gravy and other things may not escape;
A meal paste, rather stiff, should be laid on the breast,
And some whited brown paper should cover the rest.
Fifteen minutes at least, ere the Swan you take down,
Pull the paste off the bird that the breast may get brown.
"THE GRAVY.
"To a gravy of beef, strong and good, I opine
You'll be right if you add half a pint of port wine;
Pour this through the Swan, yes, quite through the belly,
Then serve the whole up with some hot currant jelly.
N.B.--The Swan must not be skinned."
THE WHISTLING SWAN.
The WHISTLING SWAN (_Cygnus musicus_) has a more compact body and shorter
and thicker neck than the _Cygnus olor_. The beak, which is without the
cere, is raised at its yellow base, and tipped with black. This species is
sixty inches long, and from ninety to ninety-six broad, the wing measures
twenty-four, and the tail eight inches.
The Whistling Swan is a native of the colder latitudes of both
hemispheres, but has been known to breed as far south as Greece. In
England, where it is only a winter visitor, it is sometimes seen in large
flocks, should the season be severe, but very rarely occurs in mild
winters. In the eastern countries of Europe it is numerously met with.
The winter peregrinations of this bird take it at certain seasons into
Egypt and Northern Africa, as also to the north-western portions of the
African continent, as for example the lakes of Morocco, Algeria, and
Tunis. It also sometimes visits Spain. In an easterly direction it is to
be met with in great numbers throughout the lake districts of Central
Russia, and also near the mouths of large rivers, both in Southern Russia
and Central Siberia. Of the Whistling Swans that breed in Iceland, few
ever wander far from their native place, and this for a very simple
reason, namely, that owing to the Gulf stream which sweeps through its
numerous bays and creeks, and the many hot springs derived from volcanic
sources, the inland lakes are kept free from ice, while in Russia the
swans are all obliged to take their departure before the setting in of
winter freezes the lakes and rivers.
[Illustration: THE WHISTLING SWAN (_Cygnus musicus_). ONE-SIXTEENTH
NATURAL SIZE.]
In its general appearance the Whistling Swan bears some resemblance to
the Mute or Tame Swan, but is by no means so elegant in its shape. Its
neck has not the same flexibility or the same graceful bend; nevertheless,
though surpassed in grace by _Cygnus olor_, it is a very beautiful bird.
The main feature in which it differs from other Swans is its loud-toned
and agreeable voice. Pallas informs us that "its voice has a sound as
sweet as that of a silver bell," and adds, "it sings as it flies, and
may be heard at a great distance, indeed all that has been said of the
notes of the dying Swan is no fable, for with its last breath the wounded
'Singing Swan' utters its song."