Mute Swan.(Anas Cygnus Mansuetus,Linn.;Le Cygne,Buff.)—The plumage of this species is of the same snowy whiteness as that of the wild swan, and the bird is covered next the body with the same kind of fine close down; but it greatly exceeds the wild swan in size, weighing about twenty-five pounds, and measuring more in the length of the body and extent of the wings. This also differs in being furnished with a projecting callous black tubercle, or knob, on the base of the upper mandible, and in the colour of the bill, which in this is red, with black edges and tips: the naked skin between the bill and the eyes is also of the latter colour: in the wild swan this bare space is yellow.
The manners and habits are much the same in both kinds, particularly when they are in a wild state; for indeed this species cannot properly be called domesticated; they are only as it were partly reclaimed from a state of nature, and invited by the friendly and protecting hand of man to decorate and embellish the artificial lakes and pools which beautify his pleasure grounds. On these the swan cannot be accounted a captive, for he enjoys all the sweets of liberty. Placed there, as they are the largest of all the British birds, so are they to the eye the most pleasing and elegant.
The swan, although possessed of the power to rule, yet molests none of the other water birds, and is singularly social and attentive to those of his own family, which he protects from every insult. While they are employed with the cares of the young brood, it is not safe to approach near them, for they will fly upon any stranger, whom they often beat to the ground by repeated blows, and they have been known by a stroke of the wing to break a man’s leg. But, however powerful they are with their wings, yet a slight blow on the head will kill them.
The swan for ages past has been protected on the Thames as royal property, and it continues at this day to be accounted felony to steal their eggs. By this means their increase is secured, and they prove a delightful ornament to that noble river. Latham says, in the reign of Edward IV. the estimation they were held in was such, that no one who possessed a freehold of less than the clear yearly value of five marks, was permitted even to keep any. In those times hardly a piece of water was left unoccupied by these birds, as well on account of the gratification they gave to the eye of their lordly owners, as that which they also afforded when they graced the sumptuous board at the splendid feasts of that period; but the fashion of those days is passed away, and swans are not nearly so common now as they were formerly, being by most people accounted a coarse kind of food, and consequently held in little estimation; but the cygnets (so the young swans are called) are still fattened for the table, and are sold very high, commonly for a guinea each, and sometimes for more: hence it may be presumed they are better food than is generally imagined.
The female makes her nest, concealed among the rough herbage, near the water’s edge; she lays from six to eight large white eggs, and sits on them about six weeks (some say eight weeks) before they are hatched. The young do not acquire their full plumage till the second year.
It is found by experience that the swan will not thrive if kept out of the water; confined in a court-yard he makes an awkward figure, and soon becomes dirty, tawdry, dull, and spiritless.
At the setting in of frosty weather the wild swans are said to associate in prodigious multitudes, and thus united, to use every effort to prevent the water from freezing: this they accomplish by the continual stir kept up amongst them; and by constantly dashing it with their extended wings, they are enabled to remain as long as it suits their convenience, in some favourite part of a lake or river which abounds with their food.
The swan is very properly entitled the peaceful monarch of the lake: conscious of his superior strength, he fears no enemy, nor suffers any bird, however powerful, to molest him; neither does he prey upon any one. His vigorous wing is as a shield against the attacks even of the eagle, and the blows of it are said to be so powerful as to stun or kill the fiercest of his foes. The wolf or the fox may surprise him in the dark, but their efforts are vain in the day. His food consists of the grasses and weeds, and the seeds and roots of plants which grow on the margin of the water, and of the myriads of insects which skim over, or float on its surface; also occasionally of the slimy inhabitants within its bosom.
The female makes her nest of the withered leaves and stalks of reeds and rushes, and lays commonly six or seven thick-shelled white eggs: she is said to sit upon them six weeks before they are hatched. Both male and female are very attentive to their young, and will suffer no enemy to approach them.
Wild Swan.(Anas Cygnus ferus,Linn.;Le Cygne Sauvage,Buff.)—Measures five feet in length, and above seven in breadth, and weighs from thirteen to sixteen pounds. The bill is three inches long, of a yellowish white from the case to the middle, and thence to the tip, black; the bare space from the bill over the eye and eyelids is yellow; the whole plumage in adult birds is of a pure white, and, next to the skin, they are clothed with a thick fine down; the legs are black.
This species generally keep together in small flocks, or families, except in the pairing season, and in the setting in of winter. At the latter period they assemble in immense multitudes, particularly on the large rivers and lakes of the thinly inhabited northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America: but when the extremity of the weather threatens to become insupportable, in order to shun the gathering storm, they shape their course high in air, in divided and diminished numbers, in search of milder climates. In such seasons they are not uncommonly seen in various parts of the British isles, and in other more southern countries of Europe. The same is observed of them in the North American states. They do not, however, remain longer than till the approaching of the spring, when they again retire northward to the arctic regions to breed. A few, indeed, drop short, and perform that office by the way, for they are known to breed in some of the Hebrides, the Orkney, Shetland, and other solitary isles; but these are hardly worth notice: the great bodies of them are met with in the large rivers and lakes near Hudson’s Bay, and those of Kamtschatka, Lapland, and Iceland. They are said to return to the latter place in flocks of about a hundred at a time in the spring, and also to pour in upon that island from the north, in nearly the same manner, on their way southward in the autumn.
Swan-Goose.(Anas Cygnoides,Linn.;L’Oie de Guinée,Buff.)—This species is more than a yard in length, and is of a size between the swan and the common-goose; it is distinguished from others of the goose tribe by its upright and stately deportment, by having a large knob on the root of the upper mandible, and a skin, almost bare of feathers, hanging down like a pouch, or a wattle, under the throat; a white line or fillet is extended from the corners of the mouth over the front of the brow; the base of the bill is orange; irides reddish-brown; a dark-brown or black stripe runs down the hinder part of the neck, from the head to the back; the fore part of the neck, and the breast, are yellowish-brown; the back, and all the upper parts, brownish-grey, edged with a lighter colour; the sides, and the feathers which cover the thighs, are clouded with nearly the same colours as the back, and edged with white; belly white; legs orange.
It is said that these birds originally were found in Guinea only; the breed has, however, now become pretty common, and they are widely dispersed, in a wild as well as a domesticated state, over various parts of the world, both in warm and in cold climates.
They are found wild about the lake Baikal, in the east of Siberia, and in Kamtschatka; and they are kept tame in most parts of the Russian empire.
These geese, like others of the tame kind, vary much both in colour of the bill, legs, and plumage, as well as in size; but they all retain the knob on the base of the upper mandible, and the pouch or wattle under the gullet.
They are kept by the curious in various parts of England, and are more noisy than the common goose; nothing can stir either in the night or in the day, without their sounding the alarm, by their hoarse cacklings, and loud shrill cries. They breed with the common goose, and their offspring are as prolific as those of any other kind. The female is of a smaller size than the male; the head, neck, and breast are fulvous; paler on the upper part; the back, wings, and tail, dull brown, with pale edges; belly white; in other respects they are like the male, but the knob over the bill is smaller.—Bewick.
Sward,s.The skin of bacon; the surface of the ground.
Swarm,s.A great body or number of bees or other small animals; a multitude, a crowd.
SwartorSwarth,a.Black, darkly brown, tawny.
Sweepnet,s.A net that takes in a great compass.
Sweepstake,s.A man that wins all; a prize at a race.
Swift,a.Moving far in a short time, quick, fleet, speedy.
Swift, (Cypselus murarius,Temminck,)s.A bird like a swallow.
This species is nearly an ounce in weight: length near eight inches: breadth about eighteen; the bill is black; irides dusky; the whole plumage is black, except the chin, which is whitish; the wings are extremely long in proportion, and the legs so short that it rises from the ground with difficulty; the tail is forked; legs and toes black. It has four toes, all placed forward. In this particular it deviates from one of the characters of the swallow genus.
In very warm weather these birds soar to a great height, but in cold or moist weather fly low in search of flies and other winged insects, which at that time cannot ascend.—Montagu.
Swiftness,s.Speed, rapidity, velocity.
Swim,v.To float on the water, not to sink; to move progressively in the water by the motion of the limbs; to be conveyed by the stream; to glide along with a smooth or dizzy motion; to be dizzy.
An accidental fall into water may be most dangerous to those ignorant of the art of swimming, by observing the directions here given, a person may save himself from drowning. If he falls into deep water, he will rise to the surface by floating, and will continue there if he does not elevate his hands, and the keeping them down is essential to his safety. If he moves his hands under the water, in any way he pleases, his head will rise so high as to allow him free liberty to breathe. And if, in addition, he moves his legs exactly as in the action of walking up stairs, his shoulders will rise above the water, so that he may use less exertion with his hands, or apply them to other purposes.
Swimming of Birds.—The superior velocity with which aquatic birds swim under water has not wholly escaped notice; but it is not entirely produced by the action of the wings, which are sometimes used as fins to accelerate the motion, but is occasioned by the pressure of the water above. In swimming on the surface a bird has two motions; one upward, the other forward, at every stroke of the feet; so that when covered with water, that force which was lost by the upward motion is all directed to the progressive, by which it is enabled to pursue its prey, or to escape an enemy with incredible speed. The otter and water rat swim much faster under water than they do upon the surface.—Montagu.
Swine,s.A hog, a pig, a sow.
Swoop,v.To fall at once as a hawk upon its prey; to prey upon; to catch up.
Swoop,s.Fall of a bird of prey upon his quarry.
Sycamore,s.A tree.
Sylvan,a.Woody, shady.
Sylvia(Latham),s.Warbler, a genus thus characterised:—
Bill slender, rather awl-shaped, and straight; but with the point of the upper mandible slightly bent and notched; lower mandible straight; base more high than broad; nostrils at the sides of the base oval, and partly covered with a membrane: legs having the shank longer than the middle toe; toes three before and one behind, the outer toe being joined at its base to the middle one; wings with the first quill very short, sometimes indeed wanting; the second and third nearly of equal length; wing coverts and scapulars short.—Montagu.
Sympathetic,a.Having mutual sensation, being affected by what happens to the other.
Sympathy,s.Fellow feeling, mutual sensibility, the quality of being affected by the affection of another.
Animals which are unable to associate with their own species will sometimes form most strange attachments. I had last year a solitary pigeon, who, being unable to procure a mate, attached itself to an old barn-door fowl, whose side it seldom left at night, roosting by him in the hen-house. The cock seemed sensible of the attachment of the pigeon, and never molested it, or drove it from him.
At Aston Hall, in Warwickshire, I remember to have seen a cat and a large fierce bloodhound, who were always together, the cat following the dog about the yard, and never seeming tired of his society. They fed together, and slept in the same kennel.
Some animals of the same species form also strong attachments for each other. This was shown in the case of two Hanoverian horses, who had long served together during the peninsular war, in the German brigade of artillery. They had assisted in drawing the same gun, and had been inseparable companions in many battles. One of them was at last killed; and after the engagement the survivor was picqueted as usual, and his food brought to him. He refused, however, to eat, and was constantly turning round his head to look for his companion, sometimes neighing, as if to call him. All the care that was bestowed upon him was of no avail. He was surrounded by other horses, but he did not notice them; and he shortly afterwards died, not having once tasted food from the time his former associate was killed. A gentleman who witnessed the circumstance assured me that nothing could be more affecting than the whole demeanour of this poor horse.—Jesse.
Symptomatic,a.Happening concurrently; betokening.
Syringe,s.A pipe through which any liquor is squirted.
Syringe,v.To spout by a syringe; to wash with a syringe.