Water Birds - Parts 2
Author: Saronkorn Seuyouyong

In myths and legends swans are common; usually they symbolize
grace and beauty and are, of course, white. Black swans were
quite unknown in the northern hemisphere until fairly recently.
In Greek legend, Leda was ravished by Zeus when he took the
shape of a swan, although in most other legends the swan
symbolized purity and innocence. The swan-knights of the Middle
Ages, such as Lohengrin, undoubtedly gave rise to the po;ularity
of the swan as a heraldic figure; Henry V's pennant at the
Battle of Agincourt carried a swan, as did many other princely
families in Europe, and today it still continues as an inn sign.
In many stories, for example `The Eleven Princes' by Hans
Andersen and the story immortalized by Tchaikovsky in the ballet
`Swan Lake', swans are enchanted princes waiting to be released
from a spell. Whooper swans are probably the species which drew
Apollo's sun-chariot across the sky and the mournful calling of
migrating swans as they depart for the Arctic in spring also
gave rise to the legend that they only sing before they die –
their swan-song.

Centuries before the Black Swan was discovered in Australia,
black swans were mentioned in myths; since the white swan
usually symbolized purity and goodness, it was natural to make
the symbol of evil and the underworld a black swan. The real
Black Swan Cygnus atratus is even now generally considered
unlucky in many parts of the world, and for that reason it is
rarely kept in parks.

In the late nineteenth century, Black Swans were imported into
New Zealand and soon multiplied to almost plague proportions.
The numbers have now stabilized to a certain extent and the
swans are culled each year to maintain a reasonable population.
The largest concentrations occur on Lakes Ellesmere and
Whangape, at the former it has been estimated that there are
about 60,000 birds. The Black-necked Swan Cygnus Melanocoryphus
of South America would seem at first to be a `missing link'
between the black and white swans. However they have evolved
quite separately and, although it is quite widely distributed in
the southern parts of South America, very little is known about
the details of its life. Ducks and geese are among the most
familiar of all birds, mainly because they have long been
domesticated. Nowadays they are also popular as ornamental birds
and many parks and gardens have small collections of exotic
species.

Perhaps the most popular and exotic of all the ducks is the
Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata. As its name implies, it is
oriental in origin, but it is now found in many parts of the
world and has often gone wild.

The Greylag Goose Anser anser, shown landing on a lake, is the
ancestor of one of the two types of domestic goose (the other is
the Oriental Swan-goose). Geese were probably the first birds to
be domesticated, although it is not known exactly when. The
Ancient Egyptians kept them and Homer wrote about them. In an
Ancient Egyptian tomb discovered at Medum, which was built
before the Great Pyramid of Giza, is a frieze depicting Greylag
Geese, together with White-fronted and Red breasted Geese Branta
ruficollis. Today, Red-breasted Geese only occur in large
concentrations in Romania on the Black Sea coast. They breed in
Siberia.


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