The mute swan is a symbol of beauty and elegance, thanks in no small part to the beloved fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling," about an awkward and unsightly duckling who upon growing up discovers he is actually a swan. The proverbial story is often used as a lesson in transformation and the relative nature of beauty. One glance at this swan, seen here holding a feather in a nature preserve in the Netherlands, and it"s easy to see how the idiom "graceful as a swan" came about.
Mute swan
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Farmers Day
-
Museum Night in Berlin
-
Ski touring in Austria
-
Fall for Chile
-
European hedgehog in Sussex, England
-
Gujō Hachiman Castle, Gifu prefecture, Japan
-
The dog days of summer
-
Swim city
-
American Wetlands Month
-
Cold? What cold?
-
The wild heart of Tasmania
-
World Environment Day
-
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, California
-
Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York
-
Oktoberfest begins
-
Tokyo welcomes a futuristic new art museum
-
Lavender fields on the Valensole Plateau in Provence, France
-
At the shore of an inland sea
-
Vineyards in the Mosel Valley, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
-
First day of autumn
-
Coral Reef Awareness Week
-
World Giraffe Day
-
Go Fly a Kite Day
-
Goðafoss waterfall, Iceland
-
Even nature needs a backup plan…
-
Winnie-the-Pooh Day
-
Groundhog Day
-
A circular celebration
-
An uncommonly cool critter
-
Arbor Day