At Abbotsbury, in Dorsetshire, there was formerly a noble swannery, the
property of the Earl of Ilchester, where six or seven hundred were
kept; but from the mansion being almost deserted by the family, this
collection has of late years been much diminished.
A female swan, while in the act of sitting, observed a fox swimming
towards her from the opposite shore. She instantly darted into the
water, and having kept him at bay for a considerable time with her
wings, at last succeeded in drowning him; after which, in the sight of
several persons, she returned in triumph. This circumstance took place
at Pensy, in Buckinghamshire.