  M My little readers all know very well what a swan is like. Which of you has not seen the beautiful large bird sailing proudly on the water; either on some river or lake, or perhaps on the Serpentine, or round a pond, in Kensington Gardens? How graceful the Swan is, with its long arched neck and pure white plumage! How grand it looks, turning slowly from side to side, followed perhaps by one or two cygnets! The mother swan casts sharp glances round her to see that no one is daring to interfere with her children. Then, too, how curiously she thrusts her long neck and head under the water, seeking for river weeds or some water insect. In the picture there we see two swans and two growing-up cygnets. The papa and mamma swans, and one of the cygnets, are all engaged in obtaining food with their heads under water. Swans live upon water plants, frogs, and insects; and some swans get a great deal of bread besides. Certain little friends of mine, and indeed almost all little children living at the west end of London, take delight in carrying out pieces of bread for the swans in Kensington Gardens. These swans are nearly always gentle to children, and will come waddling out of the water, and eat from the children’s hands. I must say, however, if swans could know how awkward they look when waddling about on dry land, they would never—at least if they care for admiration—show themselves out of their proper element. They are as awkward and ungainly in all their movements when on land, as they are graceful in the water. I know few prettier sights than that of a swan moving lazily along in summer on some calm lake or river; his reflection just broken now and then by the tiny wavelets that he makes in swimming. Swans build their nests on the bank of some river or piece of water, or still more frequently on some small island. In the nest the mother swan lays six or seven greenish-white eggs, on which she sits patiently for two months before the young cygnets appear. She nurses them with the most tender care, teaching them to swim, and sometimes carrying them on her back when the water is rough, or the current strong. I told you just now how gentle tame swans generally are, but I must add that they are not always so. They are anything but gentle if you go near their nests, or their young ones. When I was a little girl, and was staying at a country house, where there was a large lake, I had a very disagreeable adventure with a swan. I had been feeding some swans in the morning with bread which I had brought from breakfast. My governess had taken me down to the lake, and we had found the beautiful creatures perfectly tame. In the afternoon, after my early dinner, I took some bread from the table, thinking I would run down and feed them again. I ran off alone, for they had been so gentle in the morning it did not occur to me that there was any danger. Reaching the edge of the water, I found that my friends whom I had fed before had gone off to another part of the lake, but there was a solitary one not far away, sitting among some reeds upon the bank. I approached it, and tried to make it come to me by calling, and by holding out the bread in my hand; but it took not the slightest notice. Then I threw some bread to it, when I saw its feathers rising as if it was growing angry. But I wanted to make it, either come to me, or go into the water, that I might see it swim; so at last I threw a piece of hard crust at it, calling out at the same time,—“You stupid thing, get up.” It did get up, and more quickly than I expected, for it ran at me as fast as it could waddle, hissing angrily, flapping its wings, and with all its feathers raised up. I was a tall child of eight years old, Black swan At the top of this page we have a picture of a black swan. I daresay you have seen them, for they are common in England now. They were found in Australia, and are handsome birds with scarlet bills, but their long necks have not the graceful curve seen in the white swans. Moonlit village
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