Fig. 98.—White-fronted Bernicle Goose (Anser erythropus).
The Swan (Cygnus).
The Swan, which belongs to the family of Lamellirostral Palmipedes, has been an object of admiration in all ages for its noble and elegant proportions, the graceful curvature of its neck, its small and shapely oval head, its beak so prominent at the base, the gracefully-swelling rotundity of its body, its plumage so abundant in down, and its colour of purest white of the species with which we are most familiar, and is the finest and largest of all our aquatic birds. On the water it is a picture of elegant ease; it swims apparently without effort, and with great rapidity; on the wing it rises to a great height, but on shore its walk is slow and cumbersome. It is found in Europe, Asia, and America; and in Australia the Black Swan, for ages the rara avis of the poets, is very abundant. In the wild state it lives on the lakes, rivers, and sea-coasts of both hemispheres, feeding on such seeds, leaves, roots, water-insects, frogs, and worms as come in its way. In its domestic state it is the charm and ornament of our lakes and rivers; but, except in some few instances, it is only kept for show, being jealous and cruel in disposition, and incapable of being tamed.
Fig. 99.—Swans (Cygnus olor).
The ancients thought the voice of the Swan musical and harmonious, and its gracefully-rounded form and stately neck inspired many poets, who have described it as the bird of gods and goddesses. The poetical imagination of the Greeks, in short, associated their most agreeable ideas with its name. It was one of their pleasing fictions that in dying and breathing out its last sigh, the Swan celebrated its death by a melodious song; or, as Eloy Johanneau has it—
"Le Cygne, à la fin de la vie, Fait entendre un touchant accord, Et d'une voix affaiblie Chante lui-même en mort."
Buffon himself has drawn the portraiture of this bird in words more poetical than true:—"The Swan," he says, "reigns over the water by every claim which can constitute an empire of peace, grandeur, majesty, and kindness.... He lives more in the character of a friend than a monarch amid the numerous tribes of aquatic birds, all of which seem willingly to place themselves under his rule."
The great naturalist certainly allowed himself to be led away by his enthusiasm, and perhaps by his classic recollections; for the Swan, although elegant and majestic in form, and graceful in its movements on the water, is clumsy and awkward when on land; it is, besides, spiteful and quarrelsome. It attacks every animal, and even man. The Swans in the gardens of the Luxembourg at Paris had taken an aversion to all the keepers, and whenever they saw one, they all came out of the water in order to pick a quarrel with him.
The principal strength of the Swan does not lie in its beak, but in its wings—a most effective offensive weapon, of which it takes every advantage. In spite of its bad qualities, however, the Swan is the most ornamental of all our aquatic birds. Its beak is flesh colour, edged with black, and its plumage white as snow.