ates usually in small flocks. August and September are, it is
believed, the breeding months, and shortly before this the swans leave
the swamps and seek the nesting-grounds, which are usually on the
islands in the bays. Western Port Bay, not far from Melbourne, is one of
their favourite haunts. The nest is a collection of reeds, and in this
the female swan lays five or six eggs of a whitish-grey colour, and a
little smaller than those of our white swan.

The black swan is rather strong upon the wing, and, when flying, it
frequently utters a musical cry. But, being a heavy bird, its flight is
very exhausting, and it appears to have more confidence in its webbed
feet than its wings. It is said that when it is startled it tries to
escape by swimming, if it can, rather than by taking flight. As the
birds breed upon islands on the coast, they may occasionally swim out,
or be drifted out, to sea. A short time ago, two black swans were picked
up off Norfolk Island. They were miles away from the nearest part of
Australia, and they must have been driven from their native land by
winds and currents until they were lost. They were greatly exhausted
when taken up, but a bath in fresh water and a good supply of food soon
put them right again.

This incident is not only interesting because it shows the endurance of
the swans and how long a journey they may sometimes make almost by
accident, but because it illustrates the way in which animals which are
natives of one country may be carried to a new one. If these two swans
could have continued on to Norfolk Island, which is about nine hundred
miles from Australia, and, after arriving there, could have recovered
their health, made a nest, and reared a brood of young ones, then there
might have been black swans in Norfolk Island as well as in Australia.
These swans were probably too much exhausted to have accomplished this
long journey, but we have many reasons for believing that animals have
often been unwillingly driven by winds and currents to new homes across
the seas, and have thus helped to extend their species over a larger
portion of the earth.

W. A. ATKINSON.

AFLOAT ON THE DOGGER BANK.

A Story of Adventure on the North Sea and in China.

(_Continued from page 356._)

CHAPTER XIX.

When Ping Wang returned, he locked the door and signed to his friends to
come and sit in the middle of the room.

'I have bought some offerings for us to make to the ghosts,' he s