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: Etymology and Terminology, Description, Distribution and Movements, Behavior, Systematics and Evolution, Role in Culture
Famous quotes containing the word swan:
“I have seen this swan and
I have seen you; I have seen ambition without
understanding in a variety of forms.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)
“The snow, which doth the top of Pindus strew,
Did never whiter shew,
Nor Jove himself, when he a swan would be
For love of Leda, whiter did appear:”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
“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)