^3 



Southern hemisphere have more or less black in their 

 plumage, indeed, the well known black swan from Australia 

 has but the flight feathers of the wings white ; but this bird 

 mhabits sunny districts, and the dark color may be of more 

 advantage to it in absorbing the heat from the sun, than the 

 property the white species possess of retaining it; inhabiting, 

 as the latter do, countries where the power of the sun is so 

 much less. 



The black swan is now bred so freely in England, that 

 I feel almost inclined to think that it might be considered a 

 domestic bird, if it remains fertile from generation to genera- 

 tion without the aid of imported birds, it should certainly 

 be added to the list, but in a lesser degree, as it must be 

 restrained from roving. 



The swan, therefore, is a bird that has become partially 

 domestic solely from its attachment to one locality, in which 

 respect it differs from all the other species of the genus 

 Cygnus. 



The Goose has all the qualities of a perfectly domestic 

 bird, It is attached to locality, tame, and useful; 

 it IS no doubt descended from the grey lag goose, the 

 only species in which the migratory instinct, although existing 

 was capable of elimination; the very name, lag, is supposed 

 by Professor Skeat, to have been derived from the fact that it 

 remained in the British Isles to breed, that is, lagged behind 

 Its congeners, and even now it is reputed as still breeding 

 in Scotland, it bred in England at the end of the last 

 century, and at one time large numbers bred in the far 

 country, where their young were captured and brought up 

 in a more or less reclaimed condition with the tame birds. 



All the other European species of Geese are migratory 

 and, therefore, could never have become truly domestic' 

 There are few domestic birds which have varied so little 

 from the wild species as the goose ; white, and grey and 

 white varieties are well known, and there is one variety from 

 the Crimea, with the webs of the feathers much looser than 



