Swan if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight. The English word 'swan', akin to the German "Schwan", Dutch "zwaan" and Swedish "svan", is derived from Indo-European root "*swen" (to sound, to sing). Young swans are known as "swanlings" or as "cygnets"; the latter derives via Old French "cigne" or "cisne" (diminutive suffix -"et" "little") from the Latin word "", a variant form of "cycnus" "swan", itself from the Greek "kýknos", a word of the same meaning. An adult male is a "cob", from Middle
Trumpeter swan cases are anecdotal and unproven. Photos of a bald eagle ("Haliaeetus leucocephalus") exceptionally attacking an adult trumpeter swan in mid-flight were taken recently, although the swan managed to survive the predation attempt. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the trumpeter swan was hunted heavily, for game or meat, for the soft swanskins used in powder puffs, and for their quills and feathers. This species is also unusually sensitive to lead poisoning from ingesting lead shot while young. The Hudson's Bay Company captured thousands of swans annually with a total of 17,671 swans killed between 1853 and 1877. In 1908