A report in the local paper suggested that thieves had tried twice to steal eggs from a very prominent swan's nest by the bridge in Totnes. However, a few weeks before this report, I was walking that way, the tide was very very high, and the swan's nest was in danger of being flooded. There were about 6 eggs in the nest, and both swans were working frantically to gather material to build up the nest. The next day, the nest had become a mighty throne, with one swan sitting on top. A few days later, I saw all the eggs out of the nest, discarded down the side of it. One swan was still sitting on the nest. I assumed that the swans had themselves discarded the eggs - they'd got cold, had failed, so the birds had started again. Last week the report of attempted theft of eggs - both the eggs as described above, and a second attempt. But I feel sure that the swans abandoned the first clutch, and that the only attempt at theft was somebody trying to get hold of the discarded eggs out of sheer curiosity. Do swans abandon eggs in this way?