when a little flock of them approaches, flying in the air, their tuneful
melancholy voices sound like trumpets heard at a distance. Olaf tells
us, "when a company of these birds passes through the air, their song
during the long winter nights is truly delightful, equal to the notes of
a violin." "It is certain," says Arman, "that the voice of a Singing Swan
has a more silvery tone than that of any other creature. When wounded,
its breath produces this silver sound, so that its song is celebrated in
many a Russian ballad." Oesel says, "Their song consists of two notes,
which when uttered by the whole flock are very loud, and may be heard at
the distance of three English miles." "At last," says Homeyer, "I have
heard the voice of the Singing Swan. Eight or ten of these birds were
swimming about a hundred yards from the shore, and uttering their loud
full-sounding notes. I cannot say that any melody was distinguishable;
there was first a single, long-drawn, well-sounding note, followed by
another in a lower key, so that altogether they formed a sound that was
not inharmonious. Notwithstanding the distance at which I was, the notes
were brought distinctly to my ear over the water."
Schilling expresses himself still more plainly: "When, owing to the
intensity of the frost the water of the sea is frozen, and the streams
everywhere converted into ice, and the Swans are thus shut out from all
the shallows where they usually obtain their food, these stately birds
assemble by hundreds in any patch of water that may be still accessible,
and there, with melancholy cries, bewail their destitute condition. At
such times during the long winter evenings, and throughout the night, I
have often listened to their many-voiced lamentations, which have been
heard distinctly at a distance of three or four miles. Sometimes the notes
thus heard would resemble the sound of a bell, sometimes that of some wind
instrument. Still it was not exactly like either of them, just as a living
voice cannot be imitated by dead metal. This peculiar concert realised in
my mind the truth of what I had heard concerning the song of the Swan,
which I had before regarded as a poetical fiction. Indeed, in one sense it
might truly be called the death-song of these beautiful creatures, for,
seeing that they are quite unable to obtain their food in deep water, they
must soon die of hunger, as they no longer have strength enough to fly to
a warmer climate, and are thus often found starved to death and frozen
upon the ice; still to the last we hear their clear melancholy voice."
From these extracts we hope the reader will be able to arrive at a more
correct idea of the real character of the song of the dying Swan. The
poetical notions which have been entertained upon the subject have, it
appears, really some foundation, but the facts have been so distorted as
to become no longer recognisable. The dying Swan, we find, has nothing
peculiar in its notes, but its last cries may be as loud and musical as
any others to which it has previously given utterance.
In Russia, we are told, the Whistling Swan is preferred as an ornamental
bird to our Tame Swan, principally on account of the loudness of its voice.
Montagu gives the following interesting account of one of these birds
which was shot at Bridgewater, and was given to him after it recovered
from its wounds:--
"This beautiful and docile creature is now in high health, living with
many sorts of Ducks, in the greatest harmony. Towards the spring she
becomes more clamorous and impatient of confinement, but at all times will
approach those persons who are in the habit of feeding her, and will take
food from the hand, at the same time uttering those plaintive harmonious
notes for which the species has been remarkable, and which are always
attended with a singular jerk of the head. She usually carries her neck
straight and erect, either upon the water or when stationary upon land;
but in walking the head is lowered, and the neck reclining on the back.
In the season of love she flaps along the surface of the water, and would
undoubtedly fly if the precaution of annually cutting the feathers of one
wing were omitted. Her nature is gentle, timid, and sociable, and she will
follow those with whom she is acquainted from one side of the menagerie
to the other, especially the ladies of the family dressed in white; is
often turned out of her course by a pugnacious male Shieldrake, and acts
only offensively when food is the object, and then only when resentment is
not expected. She eats but little grass on land, but will devour aquatic
plants occasionally. Barley, however, is her principal food, and she never
attempts to touch bread, which is sometimes thrown to other birds; nor
will she devour small fish, which some of the Diving Ducks greedily eat."
The nesting-place of the Whistling Swan is in the wide swamps of Finland
and North Russia; considerable numbers likewise breed in Iceland and North
America. In Iceland, Faber tells us, they may be seen in February upon
ponds of fresh water, and there they remain until the end of April, when
most of them resort to more elevated situations; some of them, however,
remain in the valleys. A small pond or lake is always selected as a
breeding-place, and if a pair should not be able to appropriate a whole
pond, they take possession of part as their own peculiar property, and
resolutely drive away all intruders. The nest, which is sometimes raised
upon an island, but often floats upon the water, is generally a huge
structure, built of reeds, rushes, sedge, and water-plants, and its cavity
carefully lined with down. About the end of April or the beginning of May
(probably much earlier in more southern latitudes) the female lays from
five to seven yellowish white, greenish, or brownish yellow eggs, from
which the young come forth during the first days of July. The faithful
husband during the whole period of incubation keeps his partner company,
lying upon the nest, but taking no part in the brooding. Towards the
middle of October the whole family may be seen swimming about together,
the young ones being by that time nearly fully fledged. Throughout the
north these Swans are eagerly sought for, and many are mercilessly
destroyed during the moulting season. When moulting their wing-quills they
are attacked in their breeding-ponds by means of small boats, and numbers
of them killed with sticks. Both old and young are at this season very
fat, and are in much request for the table.
BEWICK'S SWAN.
BEWICK'S SWAN (_Cygnus Bewickii_) is considerably smaller than the species
above described. In this bird the neck is very slender, the bill much
raised at its base, and the tail composed of eighteen feathers; in other
respects it resembles the _Cygnus musicus_. The plumage is at first grey,
afterwards white, tinged with rust-red on the crown of the head and under
surface of the body, and ultimately becomes of a pale white. Bewick's
Swan is an annual visitor to Great Britain, and is most numerously seen
during severe and long-continued snowstorms, when it resorts to the open
sea-coast of estuaries. Mr. Blackwall, describing a flock of these birds
seen in Lancashire, says, "They were observed flying at an elevation not
exceeding fifty yards above the surface of the earth. They flew in a line,
taking a northerly direction, and their loud calls, for they were very
clamorous when on the wing, might be heard to a considerable distance. One
individual of this flock having been wounded, was placed on a reservoir,
near the place where it fell. When on the water it had somewhat the
appearance of a Goose, being almost wholly devoid of that grace and
majesty by which the Mute Swan is so distinguished. It appeared to be
a shy and timid bird, and could only be approached by stratagem, when
it intimated its apprehension by uttering its call. This bird carefully
avoided the company of a Mute Swan that occupied the same piece of water."
According to Yarrell, some other specimens taken near Belfast were very
gentle and timid, and never attempted to molest the Wild Fowl contained in
the same pond, though all were their inferiors both in size and strength.
This Swan appears by preference to spend the greater portion of its time
on land. Its voice, which is chiefly heard during the migratory season,
is a low deep whistle, once repeated. Temminck states that this species
breeds in Iceland in May, and has been seen in Picardy during the winter.
THE BLACK-NECKED SWAN.
The BLACK-NECKED SWAN (_Cygnus nigricollis_) is a beautiful bird,
inhabiting South America, and recognisable from its northern brethren by
the shortness of its wings, which do not extend beyond the base of the
tail, which is composed of eighteen feathers, and by the black in its
plumage. In this bird the entire body is white with black head and neck,
the former enlivened by a white line upon the brow. The eye is brown,
and the beak lead-grey; the cere and bare cheek-stripes are blood-red,
and the feet pale red. This species is forty-eight inches long, the wing
measures fourteen, and the tail from six to seven inches. The habitat of
the Black-necked Swan is limited to the most southern portion of America,
extending from South Peru to the Falkland Islands, and from that point
along the east coast as far as Santos in Brazil. The residence of these
birds varies with the season of the year; during the spring and autumn
they are met with in small parties about Buenos Ayres on their way to
their more northern haunts, where they remain throughout the winter, when
they return south to breed. During the period of incubation they occupy
the lagoons and lakes of the interior, and after that season unite with
their own and allied species into large flocks. The flight of this Swan is
light and beautiful, but in other respects it is without the grace that
characterises most members of this family. While swimming the neck is held
erect, after the manner of a Goose. We are without particulars concerning
the incubation of these birds, beyond that when first hatched the young
are covered with white down, and that they grow with such rapidity that by
the autumn they are scarcely distinguishable from their parents. The late
Earl of Derby was presented with the first Black-necked Swan ever brought
to Europe; to this were afterwards added seven more. After the death of
the Earl two were presented to her Majesty, and the rest consigned to
the Zoological Gardens, in the Regent's Park, where they lived for many
years without breeding. In 1856, however, a pair commenced a nest, but did
not lay until the following year, since which time they have incubated
annually.
THE BLACK SWAN.
The BLACK SWAN (_Cygnus-Chenopsis-atratus_) has a slender body, very
long neck, and small well-formed head; the beak nearly equals the head
in length, and is without a cere. In this species almost the entire
plumage is of a brownish black, lightest on the under side, and shading
into blackish grey at the edges of the feathers. This sombre garb is
relieved by the brilliant white of the primary and of a considerable
portion of the secondary quills. The eyes are scarlet, the bridles red,
and the feet black: the beak is carmine-red, tipped with white, a stripe
near the extremity of the upper mandible is also white. This bird is
not quite so large as the _Cygnus olor_. The Black Swan is not merely
strictly confined to Australia, but inhabits only its southern and western
districts, occupying the rivers, estuaries, lagoons, and large pieces
of water frequently in large flocks. On arms of the sea, which expand
into sheets of shallow water, these birds are especially numerous, as
in such localities they are beyond the reach of severe winds or pursuit
from the natives. "In the white man, however," says Mr. Gould, "the Black
Swan finds an enemy so deadly, that it has been almost, if not entirely,
extirpated. One most destructive mode in which this is effected, is that
of chasing the birds with a boat at the time they shed their primary
quill-feathers, when, being unable to fly, they are soon rowed down and
captured."
The breeding season is from the beginning of October to the middle of
January. Mr. Gould procured newly-hatched young, clad in greyish white, at
Southport River, on the 31st of December, and took five newly-laid eggs on
Flinders' Island on Bass' Straits, on the 13th January. The nest is large,
composed of flags and other herbage, and generally placed on an isolated
island. The eggs are from five to eight, pale green stained all over with
buffy brown, and are four and a half inches long by two and three-quarters
broad. The Black Swan is graceful in demeanour, and gentle and harmless
unless molested.
[Illustration: BLACK-NECKED SWANS (_Cygnus nigricollis_).]
These birds are to be found in most aviaries in Europe, but as an instance
of their most successful rearing, Mr. Gould gives us the following account
of some of them kept on the Wandle, at Carshalton, Surrey, by Mr. S.
Gurney:--"They were purchased from Baker, Leadenhall Market, in 1851, but
did not breed till 1854, when they laid their first egg on January 1. It
was a most severe winter, snow on the ground, and intense frost nearly the
whole time they were sitting. They hatched their young during the greatest
cold of that winter, from which they did not suffer, though they had no
shelter of any kind, and their nest was fully exposed to the east wind.
Out of the ninety-three young ones hatched by them up to the present
year, 1862 (inclusive), about half that number have been reared. Some of
them have died from disease, but most of them have been killed by the old
ones dragging them about in the fields, when they have fallen into small
holes on their backs, and have not been able to recover themselves. They
have bred sixteen times in seven years, having laid 111 eggs."
[Illustration: THE BLACK SWAN (_Cygnus_ or _Chenopsis atratus_). ONE-SIXTH
NATURAL SIZE.]
* * * * *
The GEESE (_Anseres_) constitute a very numerous family, whose members are
met with in all parts of the world. In these birds the body is compact,
the neck short, and the head large; the legs are situated near the middle
of the body. The beak, which nearly equals the head in length, and slopes
gradually to its tip, is vaulted above and flat beneath, compressed at
its sides, and terminated by a large broad nail; its margins are more
or less denticulated, and its surface covered with a soft skin. The
moderate-sized foot has its three anterior toes united by a large web,
and armed with stout, strong, flatly-curved claws. In the large, broad,
pointed wing the second quill is longer than the rest, and the upper
secondaries are less developed than in the Swan; the wrist-joint exhibits
a hard knob, which in some species assumes the form of a powerful spur.
The short tail is composed of from fourteen to twenty feathers, and is
either broadly rounded or straight at its extremity. The plumage is very
similarly coloured in both sexes, but varies considerably in different
groups; the young when one year old resemble their parents. Every division
of the world has its own appropriate species of Geese. In Europe, and in
Asia, many different kinds are to be met with in almost equal abundance,
and in high northern latitudes many are common to the eastern and western
hemispheres. Towards the south, however, the habitat of the different
races is more sharply defined. The Geese are less exclusively aquatic than
any other _Lamellirostres_; indeed, some of them pass the greater part
of their lives on dry land, and a few might almost be called arboreal in
their habits, seeing that they not only resort to and roost upon trees,
but build their nests among the branches. Most of them prefer plains to
mountainous districts; nevertheless, certain species are to be met with
at considerable altitudes, both in the Himalayas and the Andes. They walk
extremely well, and though in swimming they are neither so graceful as the
Swans nor as active as the Ducks, they row themselves along with ease and
facility; on an emergency many of them will dive to a considerable depth,
and the power and endurance of their flight is remarkable. When flying in
companies, they always arrange themselves in a regular V-shaped phalanx,
the form of which appears to be of importance; neither is it difficult to
understand why they so persistently adopt the same arrangement, as it is
evident that such a disposition is the only one that would enable every
individual of the numerous party to have a free and unobstructed range of
vision, and, moreover, it possibly facilitates their passage through the
air, at all events it affords free scope for the use of their wings, which
otherwise, from their crowding together, would be seriously interfered
with. Very generally a flight of Wild Geese will be seen to press
onward with unbroken ranks until they are quite lost in the distance;
occasionally, however, they will, as it were, with one consent relax their
speed, break up their phalanx, and for a short space become confusedly
mixed together. Soon, however, a leader again places himself at their
head; his followers resume their ranks, and the whole body moves forward
in precisely the same order as before. Their flight is accompanied by a
loud rushing noise, caused by the powerful strokes of their wings, and the
rising or setting down of a flock presents a very bustling scene. When
walking on level ground, the Geese keep the fore part of the body slightly
elevated, with their neck straight or somewhat bent. Their steps are short
and quick, and upon occasions many species can run with considerable
speed. While swimming, the breast is deeply immersed, while the tail, on
the contrary, is raised above the surface of the water. Their voice varies
with the species; most of them express their anger by loud and prolonged
hissing, some cackle, while others, like the Singing Swans, produce loud
resonant notes that can be heard at a great distance.
These birds differ very much, both as to the localities they select for
their nesting-places, and the season at which they breed. Many species, as
spring approaches, begin to assemble in remote morasses and unfrequented
swamps, and here upon small islands or hillocks they make a rude kind
of nest, composed of water-plants, and lined with down. Some, on the
contrary, select the forked branches and hollow trunks of trees, or
occasionally convert to their own use the eyries of other birds. Their
brood consists of from six to twelve well-shaped, thick-shelled eggs,
always of a dull and uniform tint. The usual duration of incubation is
about a month. The newly-hatched Goslings are covered with a soft warm
coat of greyish down, and soon begin, under the guidance of their parents,
to provide for themselves. They run and swim actively on the very day of
their birth, and their growth is so rapid, that in the course of a couple
of months they are completely fledged. They, however, remain together as a
family for a very long period. All Geese live principally upon vegetable
diet; by means of the hard margins of their beak they are able to crop
grass, and also to collect grain, and a variety of vegetables. They
likewise procure various small animals and aquatic plants from the bottom
of the water.
THE SPUR-WINGED GOOSE.
The SPUR-WINGED GOOSE (_Plectropterus Gambensis_) is characterised by
its large size, slender body, long neck, strong beak, furnished with
an excrescence at its base, its unfeathered face, and long bare legs.
The feet are provided with long toes, connected by large webs; in the
long, pointed wings the upper secondaries are much developed, and the
wrist-joint armed with a powerful spur; the tail is of moderate length and
wedge-shaped, and the plumage, composed of large feathers, is smooth and
compact. In this bird the cheeks, chin, throat, centre of breast, under
side, and the short feathers on the upper wing-covers are all white; the
rest of the plumage is blackish green. The eyes are reddish brown, the
beak and the excrescence at its base blueish red; the feet dull light
red. This species is three feet long and five feet and a half broad; the
tail measures seven inches. The female is considerably smaller than her
mate, but resembles him in the coloration of her feathers; the young are
brown on the upper parts of the body, with black wings, a greyish brown
neck, and white throat; the rest of their plumage is light grey. The
habitat of the Spur-winged Goose extends over the whole of Central and
South Africa, where it occupies the borders of streams or rain tanks, in
small parties, and seldom wanders to any distance from its usual haunts.
During the months of March and July it retires to secluded and marshy
localities in order to moult, as at those periods it is unable to fly. At
the commencement of the rainy season the flocks separate in pairs, and
seek their breeding-places. The large nest, which is formed of rushes,
reeds, and grass, is occasionally placed in the water, and contains from
three to six eggs. The downy young appear about September or October, and
remain with their parents until they are full-grown. Within the first
year they acquire the same plumage as the adults, but do not exhibit the
excrescence on the bill till they are somewhat older. When in the water
the movements of this species resemble those of its brethren, but upon the
ground its gait is very similar to that of the Stork. When about to fly it
runs for some distance, and then rises with powerful and rapid strokes of
its wings to a considerable height; occasionally whilst in the air it may
be seen indulging in a very peculiar hovering motion. We have never heard
the Spur-winged Goose do more than utter a hoarse hissing sound. According
to our own observations it is timid and cautious in its intercourse with
man, but appears to take little heed of any of its feathered companions.
Yarrell mentions that two specimens of this bird have been shot in
England, the one in Cornwall, the other in Yorkshire, and for many years
several have been kept in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park.
THE GREY OR WILD GOOSE.
The GREY or WILD GOOSE (_Anser cinereus_), the species from which our
Domestic Goose is descended, has the feathers on the upper portions of the
body of a brownish grey, edged with a whitish shade; whilst those on the
under side are yellowish grey bordered with deep grey. The wing is dark
grey, and the region of the rump pure white; the quills and tail-feathers
are blackish grey with white shafts, the latter are also tipped with
white; the eye is light brown, the beak yellow, and the foot pale red.
This species is fully three feet long, and five feet and a half broad;
the wing measures eighteen, and the tail six inches. The Grey Wild Goose
was formerly very common in the fenny districts of England, but is now
comparatively rare both in this country and in Ireland. It is a winter
visitor to Orkney and Shetland, but does not remain to breed, passing
northwards in the spring.
THE CANADA GOOSE.
[Illustration: THE SPUR-WINGED GOOSE (_Plectropterus Gambensis_).
ONE-FIFTH NATURAL SIZE.]