Victor Allen, age 11, of New Bedford, Mass., for his question:

WHAT IS A MALE SWAN CALLED?

A swan is a stately water bird that is closely related to the goose and duck. Most have long, graceful necks and snowy white feathers.

The male swan is called a cob while the female is called a pen. The babies, which are grayish brown for their first year (after which they turn snow white) are called cygnets.

Swans can fly at speeds of 40 to 50 mph.

In winter, the whistling swans fly from the Arctic Ocean and the Hudson Bay region to locations as far south as the Carolinas. As they fly, they fill the air with a wild range of whistling sounds. They make their nests out of water plants and line them with down from their own bodies. The female lays between five and seven white eggs at a time.