The Opelousas courier., 1893-01-14
AN ENGLISH SWANNERY
THE SWAN PARADISE IN TIE
LAGOON AT ABBOTSBURY.

of Nesting Swans.
Y LONDON paper (the specta.
~ tori calls the Fleet, the straigh
N lagoon which runs for min.
miles from the Isle Of Portland
to Abbotsbury, behind the barrier of
Chesil Beach, 'the swan ~paradises" and
adds:
The nine straight miles of water be-
low is only the playground of the birds
but in spring this is forsaken,' except by
q few pairs that nest on the inner sidt
of Chesil Beach, and the rich and
sheltered mead which fringes Abbots-
bury Brook is white with the graceful
forms of thousand nesting swans. In
this their ancient haunt, so ancient that
although the hills. behind are crowned
with the ruins of votive chapels and an.
cient monasteries, the swans may claim
for their established home IN equal II
not greater a~ntiquity-all the favotite
| sites were last week already occupied By
the Jealous and watchful birds, each
keenly resentful of intrusion on its ter
ritory, yet in such close proximity to its
neighbors that a space of ten or twelve
| feet at most divided it from ground il
separate aud hostile occupation"
Near the mouth of a small stream which
| enters the Fleet below a close and ex.
tensive ned of reeds, now cut down and
| stored for the use of the birds when
building, lies the ground most coveted
by the swans. There, between two nun.
dredT and three hundred nests, o.
sites for nests, were occupied or
a space of two acres at most. So anxiout
are the birds to secure a place on this
favorite spot that they remain sitting
constantly OH the place when occupied,
in order to maintain their rights against
intruders, and there collect with their
long necks every morsel of reed and
grass within reach to form a platform
for the eggs. At this time the swanherd
visits them constantly, and s~catters bun.
dies of dried reed from the stacks, which
are eagerly gathered in by the a and
piled round and beneath them as they
sit. These additions to the nest go or
continually; and as the cock-swan takes
his share,o or aver more than his share, oil
the duties of sitting upon the eggs, ont
of the pair is always at liberty to collect
fresh material. This is mainly piled ii
a kind of wall round the nest, the g.
terror being already finished, and ofasa
partly felted with a lining of swausdowE
from the birds breasts.
To the visitor who, under the guild.
ance of the swanherd,, walks on the mar.
row grasspaths which wind amid the
labyrinth of nests, the colony recalls
visions of visits to the island homes OF
the great petrels oSgiant albatrosses in
distant oceans. Many of the swans have
built their nests so the; they even en-
croach upon the paths; and each of the
great birds as he passes ethrows back its
snake-like head, and with raised crest
hlsses fercely and rattles the pinions OF
its wings, or even leaves the nest, and
with every feather ~quiyering with excite
ment, makes as though it would drive
the intruder from the sanctuary. But
the presence of the swanherd generally
treasures the birds, though the Kissing
rises and falls as if from the threats of
thousand angry snakes. In view of the
natural jealousy and fercensss of swans
in the breeding season, the comparative
gentleness of the Abbotsbury birds, is
somewhat remarkable. On the rivers
and breads of Norfolk each pair claim
and secure . large stretch of water foi
their sole use, and constant end some.
times fatal fights take place if the re.
served territory is invaded by another
pair. There, also, the swans will occa.
%sionally attack not only strangers,
but the swanherds themselves, who,
owing to the extent of the
stream and dykes along which the
swans nest, are, of course, less we'll
known to the birds than are the keepers
at Abbotsbury. Mr.. Stevenson was tod
by John Trett, a marshman of Surfing
ham, that he was 'L,ttacked by an old
male swan as he WIS examining the eggs
in a nest, to which, being a Doggy place,
be had crawled on his hands and knees.
The avian, coming up behind him I'm
perceived, struck him SO violently on
the back that he he'd difficulty in regain
Ing his boat, where he laid for some
time in great pain. and though he man,
aged at length to pull home, he was
confined to his bed for more than a
week." Another na51hman was struck
On the thigh in the same manner, and
described the force of the blow and the
pain oceasloned by it as something in.
credible. The Abbotsbury swans,
though not pinioned like the Norfolk
binds, and leading a Dife OF freedom on
the verge of the sea, seem to know By
instinct that the protection and safety
which they obtain at Abbotsbury are
more than enough to compensate them
for the loss of the freedom and indie
pendence which an isolated nesting
place might give, and with the excep-
ton of about twenty pairs, they congre-
gate as has BEEN described, abandoning
not only their natural instinct for isola.
ton, but also much of the combativeness
with which this instinct is accompanied.
Fights between the cock-swans do occur.
But the swanherd soon restores peace.
One fine old bird which had quarrelled
with both OF its neighbors was made
happy by q somicirele of tamarisk boughs
stuck in the earth around its nest, and
SO clearly defining its territory.
A Rats Queer Caper.