WHOOPING SWAN. 663 



outer twenty-five ; the interdigital webs full, reticulate, the 

 marginal web of the inner toe slightly bilobate. The claws 

 are strong, arched, compressed, convex above, rather acute, 

 that of the middle toe with the inner edge dilated and the 

 tip rounded. 



A portion of the forehead, and the space between the bill 

 and the eyes denuded. The plumage rather full, dense, soft, 

 elastic ; on the head and neck the feathers oblong, obtuse, 

 blended, and very soft ; on the lower parts rather small, 

 much curved, ovato-oblong ; on the upper parts larger, 

 broader, and little curved ; the scapulars large. The wings 

 are very long, of moderate breadth, convex ; the humerus and 

 cubitus proportionally longer ; the quills thirty-five, together 

 with eight humerals ; the primaries strong, decurved, the 

 outer three strongly sinuate on the inner web, the first eight- 

 twelfths shorter than the second, which exceeds the third by 

 two-twelfths. When the wing is closed, some of the inner 

 secondaries extend considerably beyond the longest primary. 

 The tail is very short, rounded, of twenty stifnsh rounded 

 feathers, of which the lateral are an inch and three fourths 

 shorter than the medial. 



The bare space on the forehead, and from the base of the 

 upper mandible to the eyes, is bright yellow, as is the basal 

 part of the bill, that colour occupying about an inch of the 

 ridge, and passing in a pointed form along the sides of the 

 upper mandible to beyond the nostrils ; part of the base of 

 the lower mandible, and its intercrural membrane, also yel- 

 low ; the rest of the bill black. The iris brown. The feet 

 and claws black. The plumage entirely pure white. 



Length to end of tail 60 inches ; extent of wings 95 ; 

 wing from flexure 25| ; tail 7£ ; bill along the ridge, includ- 

 ing the bare space on the forehead 4-^, from its tip to the 

 eye-joint 3^, to the eye 5^, its height at the joint 1|, breadth 

 at the middle 1^, toward the end 1-^ ; bare part of tibia 1 T 4 ¥ ; 

 tarsus 4^ ; first toe -fe, its claw -^ ; second toe S\, its claw 1 ; 

 third toe 5-jL- ', its claw l-^> ; fourth toe 4|i, its claw \%. 



Female. — The female differs from the male only in being 

 smaller. 



