Yarrell has remarked, in his “History of British Birds,” that “the young, when hatched, which is generally about the end of May, are conducted to the water by the parent bird, 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 I have witnessed on the Thames, and have seen the female, by raising her leg, assist the cygnets in getting upon her back.” Mr. Jesse, also, in his “Gleanings in Natural History,” correctly observes: “Where the stream is strong the old swan will sink herself sufficiently low to bring her back on a level with the water, when the cygnets will get upon it, and in this manner are conveyed to the other side of the river, or into stiller water.”
From a passage in King Henry VI. we may presume that this habit had been noticed by Shakespeare:—
“So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.”
Henry VI. Part I. Act v. Sc. 3.
By the expression “underneath her wings” we may understand under shelter of her wings, which she arches over her back whereon the young are seated.
THE SWAN’S NEST.
This habit of carrying the young has been observed in the case of many other water birds. Mr. W. Proctor, of
Durham, speaking of the habits of the horned grebe (Podiceps cornutus), as observed by him in Iceland, says:—“One day, having seen one of these birds dive from its nest, I placed myself with my gun at my shoulder, waiting its reappearance. As soon as it emerged I fired and killed it, and was surprised to see two young ones, which it seems had been concealed beneath the wings of the parent bird, drop upon the water. I afterwards shot several other birds of this species, all of which dived with their young under their wings. The young were placed with their heads towards the tail, and their bills resting on the back of the parent bird.”
But to return to the swan:—