The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-08-29 00:00:00

THE WEYMOUTH SWANS.

_
In the Daily Nt10.7 laesdae, we find the followicg
e r tiele on" Tee wg, moat,' dosses ":—The Corporation
of Wey.nouth p euesees what tot shah a body is &novel
property, that lea large num'. et of very fine swans.
Abut ten years ago the kart of Ilohester preeented
the town wile s.xty or seventy. from hi. lakes at
Abloisbary, and under the care of the Town Ocuoall
officers tne number Itas now be it raised to fully •
hundred a-id fifty. They are uodhr the management
.4 a @etyma of the Corpuratioa, named Br.wer, who
I kids hem twice a day, giving th,m pailf al of peas
at each meal. What nown se the Backwater is their
' favoorite r,sort, sod though one or two m.y now and
thou be seen g tiding between the shipping In the har-
bour or carelessly tossing on the wave. io the bay,
they do not go out iu a body. At nitre o'c!oic in tl'he
mot ulug fatty receive their ii.o.kfast of peas from a
pint near the railway etatioa, art har,og tlived ttte'r
brat. under w.t,e on i the lAA pea hal Sousa obtained,
they d•parse like a lot o school boy@ let out for •
holiday to kmu e themselves in various ways. Vul-
garly spesking, they always apperr t 'haves. eye to
the main chaoce, sod while many reabsiu woes to the
piaci where ibeyarofel in order to hold eceptimm and
cajole crone !tom wait re, others float lower down
o pick up del.ace morsels which may have balm, from
V•WNIS, ur go in the opposite direction to share iu the
*cods of some awe.. belouging to a pries:A gentlemso.
Daring the day they a- e allowed to amuse and support
therneelvee ii. such manner as they please, but in the
ereutog they gra ,nally converge to the spot from
wlich thee at irted from Ca the morning and then bare
their evening meal of WS.. 111, a charming , gut to
aid thein gracdully soul .g, With a dignity which
scorn. p-roeptib.e mivement to join in the meal.
Sometimes, having doubtless. had a "good clay,"
ba case of them dawdle ou the way an I then thee,
that are waiting, impatient, as it 'terra for their
sup,oer, go out to meet them, asiliug almost
invariable in single file, and retort. with
them. Brewer frequently has to take to a boat and
drive before him those wuich hove &associated wile
°Viet. swain. Graceful ail they are in their inovereente
they are extremely se'ash in eating, rod bite each
other in a most vic-one style irs or,,er to gala the best
pceition. 'the yonoger ad weaker birds therefore ,
content thetrselves with such peas as fall to tueir lot
outside the Wee; ciic'e- Upon the conclusion of the
evening met', shey all retire to a natal! Leland in the
Backwater, where they pia the night. The oldest
await amenot them Lai seen about thirty year. and
, the youngest two year., Tue birds lay their eggs on
the little lilted a ready mentioned, and they hatch
and rest the cygnets %bidet two oars of Brewer, who
t keit a grew; &NIA to his work, and is willing to
tura oat at any bur of the night to see to the safety of
his chaslev. Litt year as many as 33 cygnets were
r, seed, but th's year the June nights, when the young
were struggling thrusigh tasir shell., were teryc ild, and
nit one of the cygoels has em,ived. The aggressive
temper of tee gavel when hatching or rearing It.
young it well keown, but, from long acquaintance,
these swan* tattier object to the presence of Brewer
on their island, and allow him even to pull them off
their ne..s when they are batching. Of the cygnets
which live, some are kept by the Corporation sad
others are scold to gentlemen lo varkilLa par., of Eng.
land. Measures are taken secure the birds from
plunderer., and thew measures, combined with the
fightii g powe.s of the birds themselves, have bees
veiy sib:near! el, lees than tialf.a.cl,,zea swans, it is
teloived, haring been stolen during the tan years. A
propose. has recently been male for building—what
Is much wantel—a new per, and bringing the swans
into the boy, so that they may be seen from the
esplanade aud the beach. If this could be done it
would be sat-.factory to the visitors, airily of whom
do not wander to the timers% blunts of the swami io
the litekwater.