872 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



BEWICK'S SWAN. 



(Cygnus Bewickii, Yarrel. Lin. Transact, xvi p. 44.5. (Jan. 1830.) 

 Selby, Illustr. of Ornith. vi. pi. 95. Richard, and Swains. North. 

 Zool. ii. p. 4G5.) 



Sp. Charact. — White; bill yellow at the base posterior to the 

 nostrils ; tail of 18 feathers ; the feet black. 



This Swan breeds on the small lakes of the coasts and 

 islands of the Arctic Sea, and is seen in the interior of the 

 fur countries while on its passage only ; its principal route is 

 along the coast of Hudson's Bay. It arrives with the 

 latest of the migratory birds in the spring, while the Trum- 

 peters are, with the exception of the Eagles, the earliest. 

 They winter, according to Lewis and Clarke, near the 

 mouth of the Columbia, where they were seen in very great 

 numbers. Captain Lyon describes its nest as built of moss- 

 peat, nearly six feet long, four and three quarters wide, and 

 two feet high externally ; the cavity a foot and a half in 

 diameter. The eggs were brownish-white, slightly clouded 

 with a darker tint. 



The length of this species is about 55 inches; of the bill above, 

 2^ inches ; tarsus 3 inches 9 lines ; the middle toe and nail 5 inches 

 3 lines : extent of wing 6 feet 1 inch. Pure white, except the crown, 

 nape, and upper parts of the neck, which are deeply tinged with 

 reddish-orange, and the belly which is slightly glossed with the 

 same. Bill black ; cere orange (that color entirely behind the nos- 

 trils.) Irides orange. Feet black. — Old birds are entirely white, 

 and young ones grey. The 2d and 3d quills equal and longest. 

 Tail wedge-formed, of 18 feathers. 



