The methods of managing swans are much like the methods of managing wild geese in captivity. The principal difference is that the swans must have a larger body of water, and one in which vegetation is abundant. They are not as fond of land grasses as geese are, and like to float on the surface of the water, feeding on the vegetation at the bottom. Their long necks enable them to do this in water several feet deep. They need no shelter but a small hut, which they will use only in rare emergencies. After they have settled down in a spot, there should be no need of building fences to restrain them. As they are not able to fly, they will remain quite near their home unless food supplies there are very short. In that case extra food should be given them. Even when natural food is abundant, it is a good plan to feed swans a little of something else occasionally, to attach them to the person who has charge of them. As every one knows who has seen the swans in parks, where visitors amuse themselves by feeding them, swans are very fond of bread. They will eat grain also, although, when not accustomed to it, they may at first refuse it. Their food is usually given either by throwing it on the water or by placing it in troughs from which the birds can eat while floating upon the water. [Illustration: Fig. 177. Feeding swans on the water] [Illustration: Fig. 178. View of an English swannery] The female builds near the water a nest of coarse stalks and small sticks. Sometimes this is reared to a height of several feet, and material added around the sides, little by little, during the whole period of incubation. Swans have been known to pile up nearly half a cord of material for their nest. From five to ten eggs are laid in the nest. The period of incubation is six weeks. As far as possible, interference with the birds should be avoided during the breeding season and while the young are small. When it is necessary to handle them in any way, the attendant should have at the start all the assistance he is likely to require. A blow from a swan's wing may injure a man very seriously. It is said that such a blow has been known to break a man's thigh. The young are gray when hatched and do not become entirely white until two years old. Even then many of them are not absolutely white, but show very distinct traces of reddish-yellow, especially on the head and upper part of the neck. There is a story that a young swan of a deep buff color was hatched at Lewes in England. If the swans with young must be fed, the usual practice is to throw the food upon the water. Stale bread, grain, and even meal are given in this way. It looks like a wasteful way of feeding, but the birds will get all the food. Swanneries are unknown in America. In England a few of those established many centuries ago still remain. The largest and most celebrated of these is at Abbotsbury. Swans have been bred here continuously for about eight hundred years. CHAPTER XVI OSTRICHES