The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-03-29
AN ENGLISH SWANNERY.
Curious Sight to Bc Seen on the Marsh
shore ut Abbotsbury.

Shore ut Abbotsbury.
| A very curious sight does the marsh,
shore at Abbotsbury present in tn,
! breeding season. Then the ground Il
dotted with nosts, n pair of swans 3,
each. one covering tho eggs. the othe
sitting or standing. q snow-white senti
mel beside his mate. The swans do no
breed until they arc three years old
they are strictly homogeneous, and tn,
male bird takes his full share in the in
cubation. The nests, formed of dry
reeds, are of great size, and are mad,
upon grassy tussocks among the osiers
the whole breeding ground, moist will
runnels of water, being so freely inter
sected by narrow alleys of sound tur
that the visitor is enabled to inspect
them closely; nor does his approach dis
turb tho equanimity of the birds, though
If molested during the breeding season
or while the brood is young, the swan Is
a bird that will defend himself, and
still more his offspring, with considers
bic valor. They lay from five to eight
very large thicR-shelled white eggs, and
the period of incubation is six weeks.
The swan is not indigenous to the
british Isles, but is supposed to have
been introduced from Eastern Europe
or Asia many centuries back. Our eli
mate, however, suits them we'll, and at
Abbotsbury they have flourished exceed
ingly The number there now is about
eight hundred; formerly more were kept,
as many as fifteen hundred; while further
back, again, tradition gives the number
as seven or eight thousand. In winter
time many sorts of wild birds put in ap.
pearance, when the sooty plumage of in
Vulnerable coots forms u striking con
trast with the snowy whiteness of tho
swans. Some few years back n black
swan, that rdra 0GfS IN terriS, kept the
white ones company for while, but
none knew whence il came or whittier it
went. There are also hoopers, or wild
swans, a smaller species.
Wild species are, perhaps, always
smaller than tame, though generally
more beautiful; but this does not seem
to be the case with the swan, as NJ.
Baillon, Kings Counselor and bailitf of
Waben at Montreuilsur-Mer, remarks:
"The abundance and the choice of food
augmented the bulk of the tame swan,
DuU us IOfll mas lOSU none OF lUS elp-
gance: it has preserved the same graces
and the same freedom in all it's motions;
its majestic port is ever admired.
doubt even whether all these qualities
are found to equal extent in the wild
bird" AT Abbotsbury, however, the
swans are not fed; they find ample pro-
vision for themselves in the algm and
other marsh plants which grow on the
banks of the Fleet.
The grace and power with which the
swan moves in what we may call his
native element are delightful On land
he has been coupled With the dis.
mounted dragoon to illustrate the eX
trcme of awltwardncss, and it must be
confessed that his gait is most ungainly,
but afloat he is superb. According tc
that keen observer and eminent natur-
alist Button, the swan presents the
finest natural model for the art of navi-
cation, Its raised neck and round
swelling breast exhibit the prov of Il
ship cleaving the waves, its broad belly
represents the keel, its body, pressed
down before, rises behind into the
stern; the tail is genuine rudder: its
feet are broad oars, and its wings, half
opened to the wind and gently inflated,
are the sails which impel the animated
machine, "-COrnhill Mapa3inp