Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the Coscoroba Swan, although this species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though 'divorce' does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.
Read more about Swan.
Famous quotes containing the word swan:
“The reason is:
rats leave the sinking ship
but we . . .
we . . .
didn’t leave,
so the ship
didn’t sink,
and that’s madness,
Lear’s song
that’s Touchstone’s forest jest,
that’s swan of Avon logic.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“And of the swan in death these dreamers tell
of its last flight and how it falls, a plummet,
pierced by the freezing bullet
and how three feathers, loosened by the shot,
descend like snow upon it.”
—Patricia K. Page (b. 1916)
“Love that had robbed us of immortal things,
This little moment mercifully gave,
Where I have seen across the twilight wave
The swan sail with her young beneath her wings.”
—George Meredith (1828–1909)